For Immediate Release

Contact: info@stopsarcoidosis.org

FSR awards research grant to Dr. Nabeel Hamzeh
 

Chicago, IL (19 October 2011) – The Foundation for Sarcoidosis Research (FSR) is pleased to announce its most recent grant recipient of a two-year sarcoidosis research grant. Nabeel Hamzeh, MD, assistant professor of internal medicine at National Jewish Hospital, is the eighth researcher honored with grant funding from FSR.

Dr. Hamzeh will be conducting a pilot study to investigate the effect of an antioxidant, N-Acetyl-L-Cysteine (NAC), on inflammation and oxidative stress in sarcoidosis. The results of the study will ultimately lead to a larger investigation of the role of NAC in sarcoidosis therapy. The grant provides $80,000 over two years and is provided by FSR in partnership with the American Thoracic Society.

“The Foundation for Sarcoidosis Research is honored to be able to advance research through our partnership with the American Thoracic Society. We are committed and focused on moving the science forward so that we can better help people living with this disease” says Andrea Wilson, President and Co-Founder of FSR.

With Dr. Hamzeh’s award, FSR hopes to continue a seven year history of research successes. Dr. Lobelia Samavati, recipient of FSR’s research award in 2009, recently submitted her final grant report to the Foundation. Dr. Samavati identified an intracellular protein, MKP-1, that appears to be caused by a genetic variation and improperly regulated in sarcoidosis patients. This finding may have importance in understanding why for some patients sarcoidosis symptoms resolve themselves and in others the disease is chronic. Ultimately, Dr. Samavati’s findings may lead to new diagnostic tools and therapies.

Dr. Milt Rossman of the University of Pennsylvania Medical Center and FSR’s Board of Directors’ Liaison to the Scientific Advisory Board expressed the important of the program to FSR by saying, “Through FSR’s grant program, we hope to assist researchers on a path of discovery that continues long beyond the duration of FSR’s funding.”

The FSR Board of Directors feels strongly that the causes of this disease, and ultimately a cure, will be uncovered through rigorous and extensive scientific research. Over seven years, FSR has awarded nearly $1 million to support innovative research projects leading to an additional $1.2 million in subsequent awards to our researchers.

About Sarcoidosis & FSR
Sarcoidosis (pronounced SAR-COY-DO-SIS) is an inflammatory disease that can affect almost any organ in the body. The lungs are affected in 90% of patients, but the illness can also afflict the heart, eyes, central nervous system, liver and kidneys. It causes heightened immunity which means that a person's immune system, which normally protects the body from infection and disease, overreacts, resulting in damage to the body's own tissues. Sarcoidosis is often serious and can even be life-threatening, especially if you do not know you have it. The cause remains unknown and there is no cure.

The Foundation for Sarcoidosis Research (FSR) is the nation’s leading organization dedicated to improving care for patients and to finding a cure for this disease. Since 2000, FSR has worked to position sarcoidosis as a growing problem on the U.S. health care agenda and established itself as the authoritative resource for patients, health professionals and the public. For more information, please visit www.stopsarcoidosis.org.

About the Foundation of the ATS
The ATS Foundation is the philanthropic arm of the American Thoracic Society, whose mission is to improve health worldwide by advancing research, clinical care and public health in respiratory disease, critical illness and sleep disorders.

Since 2004, the Foundation of the ATS has awarded nearly $10 million in grants to 105 junior researchers investigating a wide spectrum of lung diseases, ranging from asthma and COPD to pulmonary fibrosis and alpha-1 antitrypsin. The program has also funded the career development of 24 pulmonary and critical care fellows. Grants range from $80,000 to $100,000 over a two-year period. For more information, please visit www.foundation.thoracic.org.

For more information about sarcoidosis, please visit the Foundation for Sarcoidosis website at www.stopsarcoidosis.com.