Actelion Receives United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Approval of Uptravi for the Treatment of Pulmonary Arterial Hypertension (PAH)

On December 21, the US FDA approved Uptravi tablets to treat adults with PAH, a chronic, progressive and debilitating rare lung disease that can lead to death or the need for transplantation.

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Photos Give Powerful Visibility to Chronic Illness

Erica Lupinacci and Allie Cashel both have chronic illnesses.  Together they addressed that problem head-on in a book by Cashel and web campaign called "Suffering in Silence."

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Don't Let Pain Interfere with Sleep

Pain is a key factor in the gap between the amount of sleep Americans say they need and the amount they are actually getting.  According to the 2015 Sleep in America Poll over half of Americans have experienced pain in the past week. 

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STAR Clinical Trial Update

The STAR clinical trial is designed to study the use of a patient’s own Adipose Derived Regenerative Cells (ADRCs), prepared using the investigational Celution® Device, in the treatment of scleroderma affecting the hands and fingers.  The trial is currently active with patients being enrolled and treated.  The majority of centers in the trial are ready to enroll patients and all centers should be active by the end of January.

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Atorvastatin For Microvascular Endothelial Function and Raynaud in Early Diffuse Scleroderma

The purpose of this study is to learn about the effect atorvastatin on blood vessel function and Raynaud symptoms in patients with early diffuse systemic sclerosis.  This trial is designed to look at patients with less than 3 years of systemic sclerosis, and patients must have or had diffuse skin thickening.  This study is being performed at the UPMC and University of Pittsburgh Scleroderma Center. 

For more information on this study, please contact one of our Research Coordinators, Dana Ivanco at 412-648-7040, des2@pitt.edu or Maureen Laffoon at 412-648-7871, laffoonm@pitt.edu.

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