The New York Jets and Lupus Research Alliance will host Lupus Awareness Day on October 29, 2017, at MetLife Stadium when the Jets take on the Atlanta Falcons. This event is designed to increase awareness of the devastating autoimmune disease and help raise funds for lupus biomedical research. To further this goal, Lupus Research Alliance staff and volunteers will collect donations from fans entering the stadium gates specifically to fund lupus research programs.
The Jets are deeply committed to supporting the Lupus Research Alliance, the world's leading private funder of lupus research. The organization was created in 2016 from the merger of three lupus-focused organizations who held the common belief that funding the most innovative and novel investigatory science in the world is the key to curing lupus. The Lupus Research Alliance is at the forefront of driving innovative research that can make a difference for people living with lupus.
To date, the organization has committed over $173 million to lupus research projects at the most prestigious universities, medical schools and hospitals throughout the world. Because the Board of Directors funds all administrative and fundraising costs, 100% of all donations received goes to support lupus research programs. With the organization's support, pioneering investigations have led to significant discoveries and even forged new ways lupus research is conducted.
Lupus is a chronic, complex autoimmune disease that affects millions of people worldwide. More than 90% of lupus sufferers are women, mostly young women between the ages of 15 to 44. Women of color are especially at risk. In lupus, the immune system, which is designed to protect against infection, creates antibodies that attack the body's own tissues and organs -- the kidneys, brain, heart, lungs, blood, skin, and joints.
For more information about the Lupus Research Alliance, please call 800-867-1743 or visit www.lupusresearch.org.
