USA researchers use national grant to study underlying causes of lupus

Aishwarya Prakash, Ph.D., associate professor of biochemistry and molecular biology, is collaborating with researchers to uncover the genetic and environmental causes of lupus.  

With a goal of developing better treatments for lupus, researchers at the USA College of Medicine are working on a project with other national collaborators to uncover the genetic and environmental causes of the debilitating disease. 

Lupus is a chronic health condition that can cause pain and inflammation in any part of the body. It’s life-threatening for some and often impacts different people in different ways. Nearly 90 percent of the 1.5 million people with lupus are women.

Aishwarya Prakash, Ph.D., associate professor of biochemistry and molecular biology, was the recipient of a subcontract award that’s part of a larger research endeavor funded by the National Institutes of Environmental Health Sciences. The eight-year sub-grant was initially funded for approximately $65,000 in year one.

“We are studying the underlying mechanisms for why a patient might develop lupus as they progress in age,” she said. “Understanding why a patient gets a disease is equally as important as treating the disease.”

Prakash and her lab team at the USA Health Mitchell Cancer Institute is collaborating with Joann Sweasy, Ph.D., at the University of Arizona, who received the initial grant. Combining their expertise in molecular genetics, autoimmunity, biochemistry and structural biology enables the researchers to study human variants that lead to systemic lupus erythematosus, or lupus.