University of Virginia Health System

U.VA. RHEUMATOLOGY DIVISION HOSTS RESEARCH SYMPOSIUM ON LUPUS DISEASE

The newest research on systemic lupus erythematosus will be presented Fri., September 7 and Saturday, Sept. 8, at a symposium hosted by the University of Virginia Health System at the Omni Hotel in Charlottesville.

More than 16,000 Americans develop lupus each year and an estimated 500,000 to 1.5 million Americans have the disease, according to the Lupus Foundation of America. Sytemic Lupus Erythematosus (SLE) is a chronic inflammatory disease where the immune system loses its ability to tell the difference between its own cells and tissues and foreign substances such as bacteria and viruses. The immune system then makes antibodies directed against itself, causing inflammation and injury to tissues and pain.

Symposium topics include genetics, T-Cells, antigens, B Cells and autoimmunity, receptor editing and anti-DNA antibody receptors, and clinical lupus and lymphocytes. Scientists attending the symposium will represent Yale, Johns Hopkins, Cornell, Temple, Princeton, Boston and Wake Forest universities, as well as the universities of Florida, Pennsylvania, North Carolina, South Carolina, Maryland and Albert Einstein College of Medicine, Walter Reed Army Institute, The Rockefeller University, the Wister Institute, the Mayo Clinic and U.Va.

Dr. Shu Man Fu, head of the U.Va. Division of Rheumatology and Immunology, directs one of two Specialized Centers of Research on SLE sponsored by the National Institutes of Health.

The symposium is open at no charge to members of the media, but not to the general public. To register, call (804) 924-9629.

September 6, 2001