Why is an organization focusing on lupus research needed?
In February 1999, Robert Wood Johnson IV – owner of the New York Jets and a member of the Johnson and Johnson Family, whose daughter had recently been diagnosed with lupus –convened a summit of experts in lupus to discuss what could be achieved in the next 15 years given ideal funding circumstances. At the time, very little attention was being paid to lupus research – people with lupus were suffering through years of symptoms before being diagnosed, and then being treated with medicines intended for other diseases, and lupus researchers were sometimes having a hard time keeping their labs open! The conclusion was that there were major scientific opportunities for progress in lupus that would lead to a cure of the disease, and that a new, aggressive approach to research funding was needed. The Alliance for Lupus Research (ALR) was formed in response to this challenging opportunity.
