The Rheumatologist reports that The Lupus Research Alliance (LRA) inaugurated two new award mechanisms this past summer with the goal of alleviating the racial disparities prevalent in both autoimmune diseases and the biomedical research community. 

Career Development Award recipient, Ashira Blazer, MD, MSCI, rheumatologist at HSS, says, “This award is very important for me and also for the field. One of the things that’s been a big issue in rheumatology, and in medicine as a whole is that we don’t have enough investigators of color. They are less likely to get quality mentorship and less likely to have the ability to stay in the pipeline.”

Postdoctoral award to promote diversity in lupus research recipient, Ruth Fernandez Ruiz, MD, MS,  rheumatologist at HSS, is evaluating the impact of genetic variants in lupus progression. “I am thrilled and honored to be one of the inaugural recipients of the Diversity in Lupus Research Awards,” she says. This funding will be instrumental in continuing my contributions to SLE research and advancing my academic career. I believe that the Diversity in Lupus Research award program by the LRA is a great initiative to address the profound underrepresentation of minorities in biomedical research." 

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