The Lupus Trust funds various Lupus Research Trials and Studies and also Research personnel. As well as funding lupus research we provide patient support and guidance via our website.

The following are examples of what we have previously funded or are are currently funding:

A clinical psychology team undertaking  qualitative research in patients with SLE and other autoimmune rheumatic diseases to understand the patient perspective. The focus is on patients with active disease including neuropsychiatric diseases and SLE disease flares. The team has obtained external funding in addition to funds from the Lupus Trust for a clinical trial of exercise to improve fatigue in patients with SLE.

A senior clinical research fellow who is working with basic science immunology colleagues to understand how the immune system abnormalities contribute to the development of SLE. Our Senior fellow also supports our clinical trial program.

A PHD student that is doing the lab work for a particular project we are involved in and also a PHD student that works with the team at Cambridge University.

List of publications which show examples of some of the projects we have funded:

Neuropsychiatric prodromes and symptom timings in relation to disease onset and/or flares in SLE: results from the mixed methods international INSPIRE study.

Sloan M, Bourgeois JA, Leschziner G, Pollak TA, Pitkanen M, Harwood R, Bosley M, Bortoluzzi A, Andreoli L, Diment W, Brimicombe J, Ubhi M, Barrere C, Naughton F, Gordon C, D'Cruz D.

EClinicalMedicine. 2024 May 20;73:102634. doi: 10.1016/j.eclinm.2024.102634. eCollection 2024 Jul.

Neuropsychiatric symptoms in systemic lupus erythematosus: mixed methods analysis of patient-derived attributional evidence in the international INSPIRE project.

Sloan M, Pollak TA, Massou E, Leschziner G, Andreoli L, Harwood R, Bosley M, Pitkanen M, Diment W, Bortoluzzi A, Zandi MS, Ubhi M, Gordon C, Jayne D, Naughton F, Barrere C, Wincup C, Brimicombe J, Bourgeois JA, D'Cruz D.

Rheumatology (Oxford). 2025 Mar 1;64(3):1179-1192. doi: 10.1093/rheumatology/keae194.

PMID: 38518094

Medication decision-making and adherence in lupus: patient-physician discordance and the impact of previous 'adverse medical experiences'.

Sloan M, Lever E, Gordon C, Harwood R, Georgopoulou S, Naughton F, Wincup C, Sutton S, D'Cruz D.

Rheumatology (Oxford). 2022 Apr 11;61(4):1417-1429. doi: 10.1093/rheumatology/keab534.

PMID: 34247235

Telemedicine in rheumatology: a mixed methods study exploring acceptability, preferences and experiences among patients and clinicians.

Sloan M, Lever E, Harwood R, Gordon C, Wincup C, Blane M, Brimicombe J, Lanyon P, Howard P, Sutton S, D'Cruz D, Naughton F.

Rheumatology (Oxford). 2022 May 30;61(6):2262-2274. doi: 10.1093/rheumatology/keab796.

PMID: 34698822

Prevalence and identification of neuropsychiatric symptoms in systemic autoimmune rheumatic diseases: an international mixed methods study.

Sloan M, Wincup C, Harwood R, Pollak TA, Massou E, Bosley M, Pitkanen M, Zandi MS, Leschziner G, Barrere C, Ubhi M, Andreoli L, Brimicombe J, Diment W, Jayne D, Gordon C, Naughton F, D'Cruz D.

Rheumatology (Oxford). 2024 May 2;63(5):1259-1272. doi: 10.1093/rheumatology/kead369.

PMID: 37491699

Diagnostic overshadowing in systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE): A qualitative study.

Harwood R, Wincup C, D'Cruz D, Sloan M.

Lupus. 2025 Jul;34(8):819-831. doi: 10.1177/09612033251345184. Epub 2025 Jun 9.

PMID: 40491080

Will 'the feeling of abandonment' remain? Persisting impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on rheumatology patients and clinicians.

Sloan M, Harwood R, Gordon C, Bosley M, Lever E, Modi R, Blane M, Brimicombe J, Barrere C, Holloway L, Sutton S, D'Cruz D.

Rheumatology (Oxford). 2022 Aug 30;61(9):3723-3736. doi: 10.1093/rheumatology/keab937.

PMID: 34995345

COVID-19 and shielding: experiences of UK patients with lupus and related diseases.

Sloan M, Gordon C, Lever E, Harwood R, Bosley MA, Pilling M, Brimicombe J, Naughton F, Blane M, Walia C, D'Cruz D.

Rheumatol Adv Pract. 2021 Jan 21;5(1):rkab003. doi: 10.1093/rap/rkab003. eCollection 2021.

PMID: 33728396

'But you don't look sick': a qualitative analysis of the Lupus UK online forum.

Sloan M, Bosley M, Blane M, Holloway L, Barrere C, D'Cruz D, Walia C, Naughton F, Howard P, Sutton S, Gordon C.

Rheumatol Int. 2021 Apr;41(4):721-732. doi: 10.1007/s00296-020-04726-x. Epub 2020 Oct 26.

PMID: 33104839

Attribution of neuropsychiatric symptoms and prioritization of evidence in the diagnosis of neuropsychiatric lupus: mixed methods analysis of patient and clinician perspectives from the international INSPIRE study.

Sloan M, Andreoli L, Zandi MS, Harwood R, Pitkanen M, Sloan S, Barrere C, Massou E, Wincup C, Bosley M, Naughton F, Ubhi M, Jayne D, Leschziner G, Brimicombe J, Diment W, Middleton K, Gordon C, D'Cruz D, Pollak TA.

Rheumatology (Oxford). 2024 Dec 1;63(12):3471-3485. doi: 10.1093/rheumatology/kead685.

PMID: 38105443

The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the medical care and health-care behaviour of patients with lupus and other systemic autoimmune diseases: a mixed methods longitudinal study.

Sloan M, Gordon C, Harwood R, Lever E, Wincup C, Bosley M, Brimicombe J, Pilling M, Sutton S, Holloway L, D'Cruz D.

Rheumatol Adv Pract. 2020 Dec 14;5(1):rkaa072. doi: 10.1093/rap/rkaa072. eCollection 2021.

PMID: 33604501

Is it me? The impact of patient-physician interactions on lupus patients' psychological well-being, cognition and health-care-seeking behaviour.

Sloan M, Naughton F, Harwood R, Lever E, D'Cruz D, Sutton S, Walia C, Howard P, Gordon C.

Rheumatol Adv Pract. 2020 Jul 22;4(2):rkaa037. doi: 10.1093/rap/rkaa037. eCollection 2020.

PMID: 32974426

Hallucinations and Related Perceptual Phenomena in Systemic Lupus Erythematosus and Inflammatory Arthritis: A Cross-sectional Mixed-Methods Study.

Arunasalam A, Pollak TA, Varshney A, Bourgeois JA, D'Cruz D, Leschziner G, Pitkanen M, Bortoluzzi A, Calderwood L, Naidu K, Dunbar E, Andreoli L, Piper M, Taylor S, Sloan M.

J Acad Consult Liaison Psychiatry. 2025 May 19:S2667-2960(25)00486-0. doi: 10.1016/j.jaclp.2025.05.005. Online ahead of print.

PMID: 40398818

Medically explained symptoms: a mixed methods study of diagnostic, symptom and support experiences of patients with lupus and related systemic autoimmune diseases.

Sloan M, Harwood R, Sutton S, D'Cruz D, Howard P, Wincup C, Brimicombe J, Gordon C.

Rheumatol Adv Pract. 2020 Feb 26;4(1):rkaa006. doi: 10.1093/rap/rkaa006. eCollection 2020.

PMID: 32373774

'I still can't forget those words': mixed methods study of the persisting impact on patients reporting psychosomatic and psychiatric misdiagnoses.

Sloan M, Bosley M, Gordon C, Pollak TA, Mann F, Massou E, Morris S, Holloway L, Harwood R, Middleton K, Diment W, Brimicombe J, Lever E, Calderwood L, Dalby E, Dunbar E, D'Cruz D, Naughton F.

Rheumatology (Oxford). 2025 Jun 1;64(6):3842-3853. doi: 10.1093/rheumatology/keaf115.

PMID: 40037287

Self-reported cognitive dysfunction and memory impairment in systemic autoimmune rheumatic diseases (SARDs): a mixed methods analysis of the INSPIRE cohort.

Varshney A, Pollak TA, Arunasalam A, Massou E, Naughton F, Bourgeois JA, Calderwood L, Leschziner G, Bortoluzzi A, Tunks A, Dalby E, Piper M, Andreoli L, Yan X, Gnanapavan S, Kaul A, D'Cruz D, Sloan M.

Rheumatology (Oxford). 2025 Aug 7:keaf429. doi: 10.1093/rheumatology/keaf429. Online ahead of print.

PMID: 40795207

A randomised controlled trial to assess the feasibility and acceptability of remote psychosocial and exercise interventions for people with lupus: The ADAPT feasibility trial.

Sloan M, Pollak TA, D'Cruz D, Diment W, Bosley M, Lever E, Mann F, Sloan B, Brimicombe J, Morris S, Naughton F.

Rheumatol Int. 2025 Sep 24;45(10):233. doi: 10.1007/s00296-025-05959-4.

PMID: 40991063

Double-negative B cells and DNASE1L3 colocalise with microbiota in gut-associated lymphoid tissue.

Montorsi L, Pitcher MJ, Zhao Y, Dionisi C, Demonti A, Tull TJ, Dhami P, Ellis RJ, Bishop C, Sanderson JD, Jain S, D'Cruz D, Gibbons DL, Winkler TH, Bemark M, Ciccarelli FD, Spencer J.

Nat Commun. 2024 May 14;15(1):4051. doi: 10.1038/s41467-024-48267-4.

PMID: 38744839

Could tolerance to DNA be broken in the gut in systemic lupus erythematosus?

Spencer J, Jain S.

Immunol Lett. 2024 Dec;270:106937. doi: 10.1016/j.imlet.2024.106937. Epub 2024 Oct 28.

PMID: 39490628

Human gut-associated lymphoid tissue: A dynamic hub propagating modulators of inflammation.

Jain S, Bemark M, Spencer J.

Clin Transl Med. 2023 Sep;13(9):e1417. doi: 10.1002/ctm2.1417.

PMID: 37735775