It is essential to support ongoing research  projects  to accelerate discoveries and find a cure!   
Dr. Radamés Sierra Zorita, Medical Director of Fundación Bechara, speaks about how the foundation has taken an active role creating awareness and educating the medical community in Puerto Rico about autoimmune diseases. Dr. Sierra Zorita discusses the importance of educating primary doctors to recognize symptoms of autoimmune diseases, to promote early diagnosis and referral to the appropriate specialist. Fundación Bechara has conducted seven medical conferences with the purpose of helping doctors recognize the early signs of autoimmune disease. Fundación Bechara is also supporting investigators from the University of Puerto Rico School of Pharmacy in their attempt to identify the impact of rheumatic diseases in Puerto Rico. 
Be Brave by Fundación Bechara established an alliance with Brigham and Women's Hospital through the BE BRAVE FUND.  This fund provides financial support to Dr. Peter Andrija Nigrovic's research project, under the direction of  Michael Weinblatt, MD, in an effort to lead important innovative discoveries in the rheumatic field.
Dr. Michael Weinblatt is a distinguished Chair in Rheumatology at BWH and  Professor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School. 
 "In a time were there are continues restrictions in funding for our research in these diseases,  Be Brave by Fundación Bechara has been critical to support our ongoing work", Dr. Weinblatt
Dr. Peter A. Nigrovic talks about how Fundación Bechara's contributions to his lab over the past 5 years have given him the ability to apply for grants to begin new projects. 
" we need to work together,  we no longer can rely to support research endeavors solely by grants. Additional research funds are incredibly important to us. " Dr. Bonnie Bermas
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For more information click on the titles
Dr. Peter Andrija Nigrovic is the Director of the Center for Adults with Pediatric Rheumatic Illness at BWH, as well as an Associate Professor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School. 
Dr Nigrovic explains how Fundación Bechara has been helping his laboratory in two different directions: exploring the genetic basis of arthritis in children, as well as the nature of inflammatory cells, (especially in a condition called Systemic Juvenile Idiopathic Arthritis.). "The latter, is a condition that can be potentially devastating, but also potentially treatable.  We think we are on the track of  finding new directions for these conditions", Dr. Nigrovic
​RESEARCH PROJECT
Arthritis Triggers in Adults and Children
Dr. Peter Nigrovic is interested in the ways the immune system prompts the body to attack its own joints and sustain the damaging process over time.  By studying immune cells, animals (mice) and human tissue samples, he is working to unravel the biological triggers for both adult RA and its potentially devastating pediatric counterpart, juvenile idiopathic arthritis (JIA).  In one series of studies, Dr. Nigrovic used a drug to shut down JIA during a critical onset period (ages 1-4), when JIA most often initiates an attack.  His group also found that the drug is ineffective after the onset period.  A current line of investigation is seeking the mechanism that sets up the resistance to the drug, with the hope that neutralizing this barrier will allow the drug to work beyond the onset period.  If successful, this would be a major breakthrough in the treatment of JIA.
Dr. Nigrovic is also committed to developing innovative mentoring opportunities to help advance the field.  For example, he founded the nation’s first inter-institutional mentoring program in a sub-specialty.  Called AMIGO, the program matches pediatric rheumatologists-in-training with experienced specialists at other institutions.
BE BRAVE by Fundación Bechara formed a collaborative alliance with the School Pharmacy of the University of PR to give financial support towards studies that will help develop a registry of rheumatic patients in the island. 

​Wanda Maldonado, Dean of the School of Pharmacy of the University of P.R.:
"​We are very pleased for the collaboration we have established with BE BRAVE by Fundación Bechara. During which we have given ourselves the task to engage in studies that have demonstrated demographic characteristics of patients, especially patients that suffer from Rheumatoid Arthritis, as well as their treatments patterns. This data of Puerto Rican patients is very important because it reveals to us the characteristics of our population and treatments patterns. This data can also be utilized to continue to do additional research that will help optimize treatments".

Click on the article to read this important publication which serves as the first step in the collection of imminent data which will help understand demographics and characteristics of rheumatic patients in Puerto Rico. 
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IT'S ESSENTIAL TO SUPPORT ONGOING RESEARCH PROJECTS TO ACCELERATE DISCOVERIES AND FIND A CURE!