Alliance for lupus research

About the Alliance for Lupus Research

•	founded in 1999 by Robert Wood Johnson IV, a member of the founding family of Johnson & Johnson, and owner of the NY Jets

•	ALR has given more money to lupus research than any non-governmental agency in the world; estimated cumulative commitment to research to date is $42 million.

•	One hundred percent of all donations from the public, including donations in support of the Walk with Us to Cure Lupus program, go directly to research, due to the support of the Board of Directors, who pay all of ALR’s operating costs.

•      ALR uses a peer review system to make all funding decisions.

•	Areas of research emphasis include: susceptibility, pathogenesis, inflammation and tissue damage, clinical assessment and therapy.

•	The hallmarks of ALR’s program are an emphasis on multidisciplinary science and a keen focus on research that can be moved quickly from the laboratory to the patient’s bedside

ALR’s mission: To find better treatments and ultimately prevent and cure systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE, or lupus), a debilitating autoimmune disease by supporting medical research.

FACTS ON LUPUS:

Lupus is an autoimmune disease that can affect almost every major organ in the body, including the heart, kidneys, skin, lungs, and brain

Lupus can cause chronic and overwhelming fatigue and pain, complications such as kidney failure, heart disease, and stroke, and in many cases is fatal

Symptoms vary from patient to patient, and can come and go without warning, so lupus is extremely difficult to diagnose and treat

The US Department of Health and Human Services estimates the number of Americans suffering from lupus at approximately 1.4 million – making lupus more common than leukemia, muscular dystrophy, cerebral palsy, multiple sclerosis and cystic fibrosis.

Women die from lupus at 5 times the rate of men.

Lupus is 3 times more common in African-American women (who are also 3 times more like to die from it) than Caucasian women

Over 36% of lupus deaths occur between the ages of 15 and 44, thus striking our nation’s people during the prime of their lives.

BOARD OF DIRECTORS

Robert Wood Johnson IV (Chair) Chairman and CEO The Johnson Company, Inc.

Neil J. Burmeister President The Johnson Company, Inc.

Eva Andersson-Dubin, MD

James P. Andrew Senior Vice President and Director The Boston Consulting Group

Charles J. Huebner, MD Harbor Arthritis Center

William J. Mulvihill Department of Athletics University of Cincinnati

Robert W. Pittman The Pilot Group

Stephanie N. Powell Dua New York City Fund for Public Schools

Joseph Mauriello

SCIENTIFIC ADVISORY BOARD

Joseph E. Craft, MD (Chair, 2007) Yale University, Rheumatology Section

Andrew C. Chan, MD, PhD (2007) Vice President, Research-Immunology Genentech, Inc.

John Atkinson, MD (2008) Samuel B Grant Professor of Medicine Division of Rheumatology Washington University School of Medicine

Barbara Finck, MD (2008) VP, Clinical Research EOS Biotech

Jeffrey Bluestone, PhD (2008) Professor and Director, Diabetes Center UCSF Medical School

David A. Hafler, MD (2009) Center for Neurologic Diseases Brigham and Women’s Hospital

E. Nigel Harris, MD (2007) Vice Chancellor University of the West Indies

Terry Strom, MD (2007) Professor of Medicine & Surgery Director, Division of Immunology Harvard Medical School Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center

Brian Kotzin, MD (2008) Vice President, Global Clinical Development

www.lupusresearch.org 

800.867.1743