Scleroderma Foundation Announces Call for Proposals for 2011 Research Grant Program

DANVERS, Mass., May 4 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The Scleroderma Foundation announces an open call for proposals for its 2011 Research Grant Program.  The Scleroderma Foundation fosters the development of innovative, high-quality research by new and established investigators in fields related to systemic sclerosis (SSc, scleroderma). To accomplish this goal, two distinct research grants are being offered, "Scleroderma Foundation New Investigator Grant," and the "Scleroderma Foundation Established Investigator Grant."

The Foundation's grant program enables many researchers to develop their interests and careers, leading them to receive larger federal grants for advanced scleroderma study in the future. Past recipient of the program and notable scleroderma researcher, Carol Feghali-Bostwick, Ph.D., credits her present success in research to the early support she received from the Foundation in 1999, claiming, "As a young researcher, I was given a tremendous opportunity to pursue my own research on scleroderma through the Foundation's grant program.  To this day, I believe the program was instrumental in allowing me to establish myself and secure federal funding for my present research initiatives."  

First established in 1989, the Scleroderma Research Grant Program has made available $15.6 million to date in research funds to qualified researchers.  The research grant funding program has earned a unique place in the field of scleroderma research. It is respected by medical researchers and by government health agencies such as NIH/NIAMS. The program is administered by the Scleroderma Foundation and guided by the Foundation's Peer Research Review Committee. This committee, composed of medical experts on scleroderma from around the world, helps determine which proposals will be funded each year by reading, critiquing, and ranking all applications.

All applications for the 2011 grant funding cycle must be received by September 15th, 2010, at 5 p.m. EDT to be eligible for consideration.  For more information and application instructions please visit www.scleroderma.org or call the Scleroderma Foundation's toll free number at 1-800-722-4673.

About Scleroderma

Scleroderma is a chronic, often progressive, autoimmune disease in which the immune system attacks its own body.  Scleroderma, which literally means "hard skin," can cause a thickening and tightening of the skin. In the systemic form of the disease, it causes serious damage to internal organs including the lungs, heart, kidneys, esophagus and gastrointestinal tract. As scarring, or sclerosis, of these organs and organ systems progress, they work less effectively, and can lead to organ failure and death.

Some medications and treatments can help with certain symptoms, but there is still no cure for scleroderma, which affects about 300,000 nationwide. (By way of comparison, about the same numbers of people are affected by multiple sclerosis.)

About the Scleroderma Foundation

The Danvers, Mass.-based Scleroderma Foundation is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization dedicated to serving the interests of people with scleroderma. It has a network of 22 chapters and 145 support groups nationwide that carry out its threefold mission of support, education and research.  The Scleroderma Foundation makes available an average of $1 million in new research grants each year to find the cause and cure for scleroderma.

More information about the Scleroderma Foundation can be found at www.scleroderma.org or by calling 800-722-HOPE (4673).

SOURCE Scleroderma Foundation

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