Lupus Foundation of America Recognizes Drs. Brad Rovin and Alí Duarte-García

The Lupus Foundation of America will honor Brad H. Rovin, MD, and Alí Duarte-García, MD, at the 2024 Evelyn V. Hess Reception on November 17 for their contributions to the field.

Dr. Rovin will receive the Evelyn V. Hess Award, which recognizes a clinical or basic science researcher whose exceptional work has enhanced understanding of the science of lupus treatment. Dr. Duarte-García will accept the Mary Betty Stevens Young Investigator Prize, which recognizes the exceptional achievements of an investigator in the early stages of their lupus research career.

Dr. Rovin is the Lee A. Hebert Professor of Nephrology at Ohio State University and medical director for the university’s Center for Clinical Research Management. He also serves as deputy editor of Kidney International, the flagship journal of the International Society of Nephrology, and on the core leadership team for the American College of Rheumatology (ACR) clinical practice guidelines for lupus nephritis. He is a founding member of NephroNet, a grassroots nephrology clinical trial organization, and the Lupus Nephritis Clinical Trials Network.

Dr. Rovin’s research focuses on identifying urine biomarkers of structural changes in the kidney, which may allow future studies to track how lupus nephritis responds to treatment in real time without repeated biopsies.

Dr. Duarte-García is an assistant professor of medicine and a rheumatology consultant at the Mayo Clinic. He contributed to the development of new classification criteria for antiphospholipid syndrome and quality measures for systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE). He also serves on the core leadership team for the ACR clinical practice guidelines for lupus nephritis and SLE and as a co-leader of the Lupus Midwest Network project, funded by the Centers for Disease Control.

Dr. Duarte-García conducted the first epidemiologic studies on antiphospholipid syndrome and lupus nephritis in the United States and has employed innovative data synthesis methods to demonstrate a dose-response relationship between initial glucocorticoid dosage and treatment outcomes in lupus nephritis, including mortality and serious infections.