Professor of medicine Betty Tsao, on faculty in the division of rheumatology and arthritis at the UCLA David Geffen School of Medicine and a member of the UCLA Jonsson Cancer Center, received a research grant from the Lupus Foundation of America’s 2014 LIFELINE Grant Program.
Tsao will study two genes that have been recently identified to greatly increase the risk for lupus in Europeans and Asians and will seek to understand how these genes cause lupus. Lupus is a chronic inflammatory disease that occurs when the body’s immune system attacks its own tissues and organs.
The Lupus Foundation of America leads the fight to improve the quality of life for people affected by lupus through a comprehensive program of research, education and advocacy. The LIFELINE grants provide a year’s worth of support for researchers who experience a gap in external funding for a specific, previously funded study due to the decreased support available from government sources. The award is intended to keep an investigator’s project on track while they reapply for larger federal grants. Tsao’s grant is in memory of Mary Katherine “Kassie” McMullin-Biglow, a board member of a chapter of the Lupus Foundation who died in 2004 from complications of lupus.