The White Feather Foundation
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Help Fund Critical Pediatric Lupus Research

Pediatric-onset lupus often strikes during critical years of childhood growth and development. Children with lupus may have more pervasive and life-threatening organ involvement than adults, which can damage the kidneys, brain, heart, skin, and joints. They frequently face years of intensive medications, repeated hospitalizations, and significant disruptions to school, friendships, and family life.

Current treatments can control symptoms but do not cure the disease and also carry serious long-term side effects. Over the last five years, innovative approaches to therapies for lupus have pointed to the possibility of achieving lasting, drug-free remission through the vehicle of cell therapy, but additional research is needed, especially in the pediatric-onset lupus population.

Lucy (O’Donnell) Vodden was a childhood friend of our founder, Julian Lennon. At age 3, he immortalised her in a drawing he brought home from school and presented to his father. When John asked what the drawing was about, young Julian responded, “Lucy in the sky with diamonds”, and that in turn inspired John to write the Beatles song of the same name.

Pictured here is Lucy at the age when she and Julian first became schoolmates; the background is a photo of Julian’s childhood drawing. Though they lost touch for many years, they reconnected after Lucy had been diagnosed with Lupus. Following her tragic passing from the disease in 2009, Julian became a Global Ambassador for The Lupus Foundation of America and later, established the Lucy Vodden Research Grant.

Since its inception, Julian, The White Feather Foundation community and other generous donors have contributed over $69,000 to this fund, supporting pediatric lupus research studies, as well as an innovative Phase II clinical trial evaluating mesenchymal stromal cells as a potential treatment for lupus. Now, we’re issuing a new call for donations to the Lucy Vodden Research Grant as the work is in a critical stage of development.

Laboratory Equipment

Your donation pays for the equipment to conduct vital tests. Recent advances using chimeric antigen receptor (CAR)-T cells, suggest that long-lasting remission in lupus may be possible by eliminating disease-driving immune cells. Regulatory T cells (Tregs) are immune cells that naturally calm inflammation and help maintain immune balance. When engineered with CARs, Tregs can become active at sites of disease and suppress autoimmune inflammation without destroying other immune cells.

Scientists and Medical Experts

Your donation funds the experts in the field that can test these theories and bring new treatments to life, potentially saving young patients from chemotherapy before infusion, which can carry risks of infection and harmful inflammation.

Reporting

Your donation pays for the administrative costs associated with documentation, reporting and publishing the findings of the research, as it progresses.

DONATE

Share via
Lucy’s Legacy For Lupus
https://whitefeatherfoundation.com/campaign/lucys-legacy-for-lupus/

The White Feather Foundation
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