Rheumatologists on the Move, January 2016

The award announcement mentions Dr. Kaplan’s research on lupus-related organ damage, “including cardiovascular disease—one of the leading manifestations of lupus. Dr. Kaplan has identified mechanisms that are critical to the development, as well as prevention, of premature atherosclerosis in people with lupus.”

She adds that another important part of her research is to “understand the role of neutrophils in the pathogenesis of lupus: how these cells promote the autoimmune responses that lead to lupus flares and organ damage.”

“We will continue to focus on identifying targets to mitigate atherosclerosis risk, identifying biomarkers and improving therapies to decrease damaging effects of lupus,” says Dr. Kaplan. “We also hope to further understand how neutrophils contribute autoimmune responses and organ damage in SLE to develop new therapeutic approaches and, hopefully, improved outcomes for lupus patients.”

Beyond her research, Dr. Kaplan’s duties as chief of the Systemic Autoimmunity Branch include caring for lupus patients, training fellows and mentoring trainees in labs and clinics. She also conducts clinical trials designed to better understand the natural history of lupus and offer novel therapies.

Dr. Kaplan graduated summa cum laude from the National Autonomous University of Mexico School of Medicine in Mexico City and completed her residency in internal medicine at the Mexican National Institutes of Health. She did her rheumatology fellowship at the University of Michigan. She was a tenured member of the University of Michigan Division of Rheumatology faculty and promoted to full professor before accepting the position of senior investigator and chief of the Systemic Autoimmunity Branch at the NIH in 2013.

The award is named for Dr. Evelyn Hess, an internationally known expert in lupus with a special interest in the area of the environmental aspects of the disease. Dr. Hess, who passed away in December, was a true trailblazer in lupus research who had a remarkable career. She was a master of both the American College of Rheumatology and the American College of Physicians, and a fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, the American Academy of Allergy and Immunology, as well as the Royal Society of Medicine.

Richard J. Fasenmyer Foundation Gift of Time to Dr. Leonard Calabrese

An $18.5 million award from the Richard J. Fasenmyer Foundation will support the efforts of Leonard Calabrese, DO, of the Cleveland Clinic in Ohio, in the fields of autoimmunity, autoinflammation and infectious diseases. Dr. Calabrese is the head of Section of Clinical Immunology and manages its Clinical Immunology Clinic. He is also Richard J. Fasenmyer Chair of Clinical Immunology and the director of the Richard J. Fasenmyer Center for Clinical Immunology.