Pulsed Plasma Exchange: A Conversation With Eight Pioneers
Last week, we had a Zoom call that included eight of the nine people who are now individually trying an experimental treatment called pulsed plasma exchange (PPE) to treat their systemic sclerosis (SSc). Seven of the patients are in the US and one was in Moscow. The missing person lives in Turkey. The call was very interesting so I thought I would summarize some of the key points that came up during the two hour [...]
Happy Holidays! Help Amazon Donate to the Scleroderma Education Project
Several years ago, Amazon set up a program to help registered (501c3) non-profit organizations. The program is called Amazon Smile. After you select a non-profit organization, for every dollar you spend on Amazon, Amazon matches this with a 0.5 cent donation to your designated non-profit organization. It is as simple as that. It costs you nothing, but those 0.5% donations can really add up over time. Here is how to set up and use Amazon [...]
Scleroderma Foundation (Southern California Chapter) Talk on Therapeutic Plasma Exchange
We are pleased to announce that our CEO/Founder, Ed Harris, was invited by the Southern California chapter of the Scleroderma Foundation to give a talk on the use of therapeutic plasma exchange as a treatment for systemic scleroderma. Because of the era we are all living in, the presentation was done by Zoom, of course. The talk was done on Saturday, July 25, 2020 and was followed by a Q&A session. The entire presentation, including the [...]
Dept. of Defense Funding for Scleroderma Research
Over the past 28 years, the Dept. of Defense (DOD) has funded almost $16 billion in medical research through the Congressionally Directed Medical Research Program. For the first time, scleroderma has been designated as focus research area with FY 2020 funding of $5 million, in part due to efforts of the Scleroderma Foundation and Scleroderma Research Foundation. As I have been doing grant reviews for the DOD for the past two years, I was asked [...]