Dr. Sullivan, a professor of pediatrics, said that for those with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE), the cutting-edge science displayed on posters is important. She said that although treatment advances over the past 50 years have SLE patients living longer and better, “our actual fundamental understanding and having a sense that we’re going to find that perfect key that you put in and it switches it off … we’re actually pretty far away.”
She added, “It’s nice to see all of the people here because they’re coming at it from a hundred different directions. You really get a sense of the opportunity and the potential. And you realize that any one of these posters in five years could be a new drug.”
Just as important as the research are the people behind it, said Edward “Ward” Wakeland, PhD, chair of the Department of Immunology at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center in Dallas and director of its Bader Research Center for Arthritis and Autoimmunity.
“I don’t think there’s another meeting where you would see all of these people. Just about everyone who’s a leader in lupus is here—in any area of lupus,” he said. “That’s unusual. Even at the big meetings, you don’t get everybody.”