Lupus Foundation Presents Top Honor to SUNY Downstate Researcher:
Nov 15, 2012
Dr. Ellen M. Ginzler Receives Hess Award for Advancing Lupus Research and Treatment
Ellen M. Ginzler, MD, MPH, distinguished teaching professor and chief of rheumatology at SUNY Downstate Health Sciences University, has been awarded the Lupus Foundation of America’s prestigious Evelyn V. Hess Award. The award is presented annually to a clinical or basic researcher whose body of work has advanced the understanding of the pathophysiology, etiology, epidemiology, diagnosis, or treatment of lupus.
Dr. Ginzler is internationally known as an expert on lupus nephritis, an inflammation of the kidneys that affects many people suffering from lupus. As principal investigator of an FDA Orphan Products Program grant to assess the efficacy and tolerability of two drug treatments for lupus nephritis, she headed the largest multicenter, investigator-initiated trial of its time for the disease. The results, published as the lead article in the New England Journal of Medicine in 2005, have changed the paradigm for treating lupus nephritis.
Dr. Ginzler is a master of the American College of Rheumatology and a fellow of the American College of Physicians, and was a long-time member of the Board of Governors of the New York Chapter of the Arthritis Foundation. She has been an active participant in the Systemic Lupus International Collaborating Clinics and the Lupus Clinical Trials Consortium, both organizations devoted to studying outcomes in systemic lupus erythematosus and promoting new therapies for managing the disease.
The Evelyn V. Hess Award was established in 2005 by the Lupus Foundation of America to honor Dr. Hess for outstanding contributions to lupus research over the course of her long career. The Lupus Foundation is the foremost national nonprofit health organization dedicated to finding the causes and cure for lupus. It also provides a wide array of support services for people affected by lupus.
###
About SUNY Downstate Health Sciences University
Downstate Health Sciences University in Brooklyn is one of four academic health centers (AMCs) in The State University of New York (SUNY) 64-campus system and the only SUNY AMC in New York City dedicated to health education, research, and patient care for the borough’s 2.7 million residents. Its flagship hospital, University Hospital at Downstate (UHD), is a teaching hospital and benefits from the expertise of Downstate’s exceptional medical school and world-class academic center research facilities. With a staff of over 800 physicians representing 53 specialties and subspecialties, Downstate offers comprehensive healthcare services to the community.
UHD provides high-risk neonatal and infant services, pediatric nephrology, and dialysis for kidney diseases and is the only kidney transplantation program in Brooklyn. Beyond its clinical expertise, Downstate houses a range of esteemed educational institutions, including its College of Medicine, College of Nursing, School of Health Professions, School of Graduate Studies, and School of Public Health. Downstate fosters innovation through its multifaceted biotechnology initiative, the Biotechnology Incubator and BioBAT, which support early-stage and more mature biotech companies.