UNMC for the record

Erika Boesen, Ph.D.

Erika Boesen, Ph.D.

UNMC researcher receives $300,000 award from Lupus Research Alliance
Erika Boesen, Ph.D., associate professor, cellular/integrative physiology, has received one of six Novel Research Grants awarded earlier this month by the Lupus Research Alliance.

The grant will allow Dr. Boesen to test a new hypothesis for the cause of lupus nephritis, a type of kidney disease that affects nearly half of patients with lupus. Understanding how kidney cells die in lupus nephritis is crucial for developing new treatments to protect the cells.

The John and Marsha Goldman Foundation specified that its 2018 contribution be directed specifically to support Dr. Boesen’s research project.
The Lupus Research Alliance Novel Research Grant program provides three-year, $300,000 grants to investigators proposing exceptionally creative, high-risk, high-reward research on lupus and its complications. This year’s promising research studies supported by the Novel Research Grants will advance understanding of lupus and accelerate progress toward the ultimate goal — improving treatments while driving toward a cure for people living with lupus.

The five other Novel Research Grant recipients include two from the University of Pittsburgh, and one each from the University of California, San Francisco, Monash University (Australia) and the Hospital for Special Surgery in New York, N.Y.

Dr. Garvin named director-elect of the American Board of Orthopaedic Surgery

Kevin Garvin, M.D., the L. Thomas Hood, M.D., Professor and Chair, UNMC Department of Orthopaedic Surgery and Rehabilitation, has been elected as director-elect of the American Board of Orthopaedic Surgery. Dr. Garvin specializes in adult reconstruction surgery.

The board consists of 21 members, which includes 12 active directors, six senior directors, two directors-elect, and one public member director. Dr. Garvin will serve one 10-year term. Nominations come from the American Orthopaedic Association, the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons, and the American Medical Association.

The American Board of Orthopaedic Surgery, Inc. was founded in 1934 as a private, voluntary, nonprofit, independent organization to serve the best interests of the public and the medical profession. These interests are achieved through the American Board of Orthopaedic Surgery by establishing standards for the education of orthopaedic surgeons. The standards are evaluated by the board through examinations and practice evaluations.

Dr. Goldner elected as vice president of Endocrine Society
Whitney Goldner, M.D., has been elected as vice president (physician-in-practice) to lead the Endocrine Society, the world’s oldest, largest and most active organization devoted to research on hormones and the clinical practice of endocrinology.

She will begin serving a three-year term following the society’s annual meeting in New Orleans in March.

Dr. Goldner is a professor of medicine of the UNMC Division of Diabetes, Endocrinology and Metabolism and has been a society member since 2002. She currently serves as the chair of the society’s Clinical Endocrinology Update Committee and as a member of the Endocrine Educators Forum.

Endocrinologists care for people with hormone-related conditions, from diabetes and obesity to infertility, bone health and hormone-related cancers.

The society has more than 18,000 members, including scientists, physicians, educators, nurses and students in 122 countries.

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