Congratulations to our very own Mila Ferrer, recipient of the PhRMA 2016 Research & Hope Award for Community Champion! Amazing!

PhRMA Recognizes 2016 Research & Hope Award Recipients
**WASHINGTON, Sept. 14, 2016 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ – **

The Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America (PhRMA) announced the recipients of the 2016 Research & Hope Awards. This year, PhRMA recognized patient advocates and researchers for their tireless efforts to advance the treatment and care of patients with autoimmune diseases, a group of more than 80 diseases in which a person’s own immune system attacks the body’s healthy cells.

PhRMA was joined by 22 patient and community health organizations in honoring the 2016 award winners at an annual dinner in Washington, D.C., last night, featuring a keynote address by actress Jamie-Lynn Sigler, best known for her role in the HBO television series “The Sopranos.” In 2002, Sigler was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis, a chronic autoimmune disorder that affects more than 400,000 Americans and 2.3 million people worldwide.

Recipients of the PhRMA 2016 Research & Hopes Awards are:

The PhRMA Research & Hope Award for Community Champion
Mila Ferrer, community and social media manager, Hispanic market, Diabetes Hands Foundation
Mila Ferrer is the community and social media manager, Hispanic market, for the Diabetes Hands Foundation and a member of the Board of Directors of Children with Diabetes. Through her blog, social networks and participation in speaking engagements, Ferrer is a tireless advocate for more and better diabetes education for the Hispanic community. She began writing her blog, “Jaime, mi dulce guerrero,” five years after her son, Jaime, was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes at the age of three.

The PhRMA Research & Hope Award for Biopharmaceutical Industry Research
John Medich, Ph.D., vice president, immunology clinical development, AbbVie
Dr. John Medich is vice president, immunology clinical development at AbbVie, responsible for Humira and other treatments in development for autoimmune diseases. For six years, he served as global project head for Humira, leading the clinical and project development programs that resulted in the approval of indications for the use of Humira for inhibition of radiographic progression and improvement in physical function in patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA), for treatment of patients with early RA, psoriatic arthritis, ankylosing spondylitis and juvenile idiopathic arthritis.

The PhRMA Research & Hope Award for Excellence in Advocacy & Activism
Virginia T. Ladd, president and executive director, American Autoimmune Related Diseases Association, Inc.
Virginia Ladd is the president and executive director of the American Autoimmune Related Diseases Association, Inc., an organization she founded to bring a national focus to autoimmunity and increase collaboration in autoimmune research, education, awareness and advocacy. She is also the founder and facilitator for the National Coalition of Autoimmune Patient Groups, an organization of 33 national autoimmune disease-specific groups. Ladd has been involved in the nonprofit community for over 30 years as a patient advocate and educator.

The PhRMA Research & Hope Award for Government Research
Lisa G. Rider, M.D., deputy chief, environmental autoimmunity group, National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences, National Institutes of Health
Lisa Rider, M.D., a pediatric rheumatologist, is deputy chief of the environmental autoimmunity group at the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences, National Institutes of Health. She is also clinical professor of medicine at The George Washington University. Dr. Rider’s research focus has been on juvenile myositis, a rare autoimmune disease characterized by muscle inflammation. She has led the international development of validated assessments and trial response criteria and defined the major autoantibody phenotypes and associated outcomes. Dr. Rider has co-organized 20 national or international conferences, including a number for the International Myositis Assessment and Clinical Studies Group (IMACS), which she has co-led for the past 20 years.

The PhRMA Research & Hope Award for Nonprofit Research
Joan T. Merrill, M.D., chief advisor, clinical development, Lupus Foundation of America
Joan T. Merrill, M.D., is director of clinical projects at the Oklahoma Medical Research Foundation and the chief advisor of clinical development at the Lupus Foundation of America. She has been involved in design, implementation and execution of clinical trials of immune modulating treatments for lupus for over 20 years. As the medical director of the Lupus Foundation of America, Dr. Merrill led the development of an online lupus assessment training website (www.lfa-point) which is now the gold standard in scoring complex outcome measures for trials, and she is currently working in a collaborative group of stakeholders to test and validate a new, simplified outcome measure for lupus, LFA-REAL (Rapid Evaluation of Activity in Lupus).

The PhRMA Research & Hope Award for Visibility & Progress
Parker Lentini, patient and advocate
Parker Lentini is a 16-year-old who has systemic-onset juvenile arthritis with overlap syndromes including: myositis, psoriatic features, vasculitis, raynauds, anklyosis spondylitis, and hypogammaglobulinemia. Since his juvenile arthritis diagnosis six years ago, he has fought hard while also raising over $105,000 toward a cure and to support families impacted by the disease. Lentini is an Arthritis Foundation’s Ambassador and the 2016 National Walk to Cure Arthritis Youth Honoree and recently received the International Foundation for Autoimmune Arthritis’ World Autoimmune Arthritis Day “Inspirational Patient Award.” He and his family raise awareness through their family blog: “Parker’s Purple Playa Power … Pounding at Juvenile Rheumatoid Arthritis.”

“These awards celebrate the progress and promise of biopharmaceutical research and illustrate how our industry, and others in the health care ecosystem, work together to bring medical advances to patients,” said Dr. George A. Scangos, PhRMA chairman and Biogen chief executive officer. “The 2016 award recipients all play a critical role in working to ensure that the lives of patients and their caregivers may be improved as a result of breakthrough science and innovation.”

According to a new PhRMA report released Monday, “Medicines in Development for Autoimmune Diseases,” there are more than 300 medicines and vaccines for autoimmune diseases currently in clinical trials or awaiting review by the Food and Drug Administration. Spearheaded by the biopharmaceutical industry, this progress toward new treatments and cures includes 76 for autoimmune types of arthritis, 58 for inflammatory bowel disease, 39 for lupus, 34 for type 1 diabetes and 32 for multiple sclerosis.http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/phrma-recognizes-2016-research--hope-award-recipients-300327361.html

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Congratulations, Mila.

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Congratulations!

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