U.S. DoD awards $1.1M grant to Cleveland Clinic researcher for lupus research

Research will focus on why females are disproportionately affected

The U.S. Department of Defense recently awarded a $1.1 million grant to a Cleveland Clinic researcher to investigate why females are disproportionately affected by lupus.

Trine Jorgensen, Ph.D., of the Department of Immunology of the Lerner Research Institute of Cleveland Clinic, has received a three-year grant from the U.S. Department of Defense's Congressionally Directed Peer Reviewed Medical Research Program (PRMRP).

Nine out of ten people with lupus are female, a disparity that remains unexplained. Jorgensen's studies will explore the role of a population of immunosuppressive cells in the development of lupus, and analyze related mechanisms of disease suppression as it may occur in males.

Due to the changing demographics of the military population, there is an ever-increasing prevalence of lupus in military.