Driving Discovery Through Innovation

A Decade of Impact in Lupus Research

Just a decade ago, in an era of advances in medical technology and clinical discovery, private sector research in lupus was small and limited. More than 50 years has passed without the approval of a new treatment option and only modest progress had been made toward further understanding the disease.

In late 1999, as 1.5 million Americans faced the pain and devastation of lupus, patients, families and the nation’s leading researchers came together to establish the Lupus Research Institute (LRI).

The Institute was founded on the principle that the private sector has the unique opportunity to pursue new and creative scientific approaches. These novel research concepts, while unlikely to be supported through conventional funding sources, are the very ideas that have the potential to drive discovery in a complex and understudied disease.

By creating a robust platform for scientific innovation, the LRI has raised the bar in lupus research — an accomplishment that would not be possible without its pioneering investment and commitment to redefining the scope and pace of progress in lupus.

Recently, the LRI commissioned an independent review of funded (and completed) projects over its first decade to evaluate the success and impact of this new and vigorous approach to lupus research. The review quantifies the success and impact of the LRI initiative by evaluating how funded studies contributed new insights into lupus, led to the growth of the lupus research community, and leveraged largescale follow-on funding for future research advancements that give hope to people with lupus.

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