REF’s Campaign to Support RA Research Nears its Initial Funding Target

The ACR and REF leadership were wary of setting an ambitious goal of raising and spending $30 million over five years, but, owing to the enormous efforts of many people, including our own members, industry executives, and grateful patients and their families, these concerns proved to be unwarranted. The campaign was launched in 2006 with the first Pinnacle gift given by the ACR, setting the tone for others to follow. At press time, $27.7 million had been raised from a variety of sources, including industry and our patients and their families. More than $9.2 million has been generated to date from non-industry sources. Donors support the REF through the Within Our Reach campaign because they know that 100% of their donations go directly to research, with the hope that these efforts will lead to a cure for RA.

Successes So Far

As of the most recent funding cycle, the Within Our Reach program has funded $24 million in grants to 54 investigators whose projects are designed to better understand the causes of RA, identify the factors responsible for disease progression, discover new therapeutic approaches, and improve the delivery of rheumatology care. Within Our Reach has brought new investigators to the field of RA research from a variety of scientific disciplines outside of rheumatology, including cardiology, infectious disease, biochemistry, molecular biology, and genetics. The REF’s support has rapidly increased the number of U.S. researchers focused on RA and opened the door to exciting discoveries. Recent studies supported by Within Our Reach grants have led to improved strategies for communicating with patients, shed new light on possible links between RA and cardiovascular disease, dissected novel pathways of joint inflammation and damage, and identified predictors of treatment response. The REF remains committed to strengthening the U.S. rheumatology research environment. The overwhelming response to Within Our Reach from investigators is a testament to the need for this type of funding. By maintaining its level of support for disease-targeted research initiatives, the REF will address the most conspicuous deficiencies in rheumatology research funding and will move itself into a position where it can set national priorities for future scientific advances. The success of Within Our Reach also has provided a much-needed spark in rheumatology research by attracting talented investigators who will make major scientific breakthroughs in rheumatic disease.