WASHINGTON, Feb. 26 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ — The Lupus Foundation of America will hold its annual Advocacy Day to elevate lupus on the nation’s healthcare agenda on Thursday, March 1. Lupus affects 1.5 to 2 million Americans, mostly women, with the highest prevalence among women of color.
Why:
It has been more than 40 years since the FDA last approved a new treatment for lupus. Current therapies include the off-label use of high doses of steroids, anti-malarials, and chemotherapy drugs which can cause other health problems that may be worse than the primary disease. People with lupus want safer and more effective treatments.
Participants:
350 individuals with lupus, family members, clinicians and medical researchers from throughout the U.S.
When & Where:
Wednesday, February 28 — Westin Arlington Gateway Hotel, 801 North
Glebe Road, Arlington, VA
2:00 p.m. – 3:30 p.m.
Speakers:
Francis Ashe-Goins, R.N., M.P.H., Deputy Director and Director of the Division of Policy and Program Development, Office on Women’s Health, U.S.
Department of Health and Human Services — “Update on OWH’s Lupus Awareness Projects” Gary Gilkeson, M.D., Medical University of South Carolina, Charleston, South Carolina; Chair, LFA Medical-Scientific Advisory Council — “Research Priorities for Lupus — Why Funding is Needed Now” Sam Lim, M.D., M.P.H., Assistant Professor of Medicine, Emory University, Atlanta, Georgia; Principal Investigator, National Lupus Patient Registry (NLPR) — “Update on Data Collection for the NLPR — What We Have Learned to Date” Michelle Petri, M.D., M.P.H., Professor, Johns Hopkins Medical Institutions; Co-Director, Hopkins Lupus Pregnancy Center — “Overview of Lupus Research Funded by NIH”
5:00 p.m. to 8:30 p.m.
Speakers:
Congressman James Clyburn (SC-6); House Majority Whip
Congressman Jim Moran (VA-8)
Vivian Pinn, M.D., Associate Director for Research on Women’s Health;
Director, Office of Research on Women’s Health, National Institutes of
Health — “Update on Women’s Health Research at NIH”
Thursday, March 1, 2007 — Room G 50, Dirksen Senate Office Building
12:00 p.m. to 2:00 pm
Speakers:
Richard Burt, M.D., Associate Professor and Chief, Division of
Immunotherapy for Autoimmune Diseases, Northwestern University, Chicago,
Illinois — “Update on Stem Cell Transplantation as a Therapy for Severe Lupus”
Congressman Patrick Kennedy (RI)
Other members of Congress expected to deliver brief remarks
CONTACT: Duane Peters of the Lupus Foundation of America,
+1-202-349-1145, peters@lupus.org.
SOURCE Lupus Foundation of America
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