“Lupus in children is rare,” she notes. “But, when the disease does manifest itself in young patients, it is so much more severe and quite often attacks the kidneys.” This complication occurs in 75% of pediatric patients with lupus.
Dr. Hsu is working to determine of more aggressive treatment is appropriate and effective for these patients. By tracking her young patients over several years using a database, she hopes to learn more about specific predictors for kidney disease in juvenile lupus patients and identify effective preventative treatments.
“Launching my clinical science career would not have gone as smoothly without my REF funding,” she shares. “I was able to work as a lead researcher very early in my career and, because the funding allowed me to finance my last two years of fellowship, I was able to fully invest myself in the research.”
The ACR REF/Lupus Research Institute Lupus Investigator Fellowship Award is part of the ACR Research and Education Foundation’s extensive awards and grants portfolio. This award encourages qualified physicians without significant prior research experience to develop a research career that will emphasize better understanding of systemic lupus erythematosus as a disease process affecting many individuals.