The Program

Our Lupus Center is dedicated to clinical care of lupus patients and to translational and clinical research, with a strong cross-fertilization approach. Clinical care is provided by two full-time rheumatologists (Frédéric Houssiau and Farah Tamirou), a dedicated nurse coordinator (Séverine Nieuwland-Husson) and 4 rheumatology trainees. Every week, we run two Lupus Clinics, allowing us to see 40–50 lupus patients/week, half of them with lupus nephritis. We have access to our own in-patient beds for acute cases. Our Lupus Center is part of the European Reference Network ReCONNET. More than 600 lupus patients are registered in our electronic database.

Lupus nephritis is our main clinical research topic, with more than 50 publications in this specific field. Our group designed and ran two European investigator-initiated trials which helped define the optimal therapy of lupus nephritis.

The CHUC Lupus Clinic is located at the Rheumatology Department, Coimbra University Hospital – ULS Coimbra, Portugal (coordinator: Prof. Luís Inês, MD, PhD). It is an academic referral lupus centre, founded in 2005. We provide multidisciplinary care and work in collaboration with clinicians from nephrology, dermatology and a dedicated pregnancy clinic.

Our main research focus is in clinical outcomes research and measures of SLE disease activity, notably the development of the SLE Disease Activity Score (SLE-DAS). The clinical research program is based in the HUC Lupus Cohort, an open prospective cohort now including 600 SLE patients.

We provide a structured clinical mentorship program including participation in the Lupus Clinic, mentoring in clinical aspects of SLE with a focus on outcome measures, practical implementation of treat-to-target management, and development of skills to optimize a Lupus Clinic and a research cohort.

The Lupus Clinic at the Centre for Rheumatology, University College London has been running since 1979. Over that time we have treated over 600 patients with SLE and are currently following over 400 patients. We have extensive databases of clinical and serological information including activity measured by BILAG for each patient at each visit.

We were one of the first centres to develop use of B cell depletion to treat patients with refractory SLE. Our centre is affiliated to both the British Isles Lupus Assessment Group and the Systemic Lupus International Collaborative Clinics and we are involved in multi-centre studies of lupus. We also have a thriving programme of laboratory research in SLE and APS.

The area of expertise of Cochin's Hospital Center includes SLE (especially rare or complex presentations), antiphospholipid syndrome (APS), systemic sclerosis, Sjogren's syndrome, mixed connective tissue disease, myositis, and relapsing polychondritis. We also have specific national expertise on pregnancies and connective tissue diseases.

The department provides 15 weekly clinics dedicated to connective tissue diseases (4 SLE, 4 SSc, 7 different CTD including 2 dedicated to pregnancy and CTD), plus hospitalization wards, day hospital, and urgent care 24/7. We participate in 3 international clinical trials and numerous national clinical trials.

The Clinical Immunology Unit (UIC) was formally created in 1996 in the Internal Medicine Department with internists directly involved in the field of Immunology. UIC has developed its activities in diagnosis and follow-up of patients with autoimmune diseases and immunodeficiencies. Every day outpatient clinic, multidisciplinary group consultation every Friday, in-patient counseling, and regular seminars covering SLE, Behçet, Sjogren, and more.

UIC organizes every year an International meeting, PAM – Porto's Autoimmunity Meeting and was responsible for the organization of the 11th European Lupus Meeting (Porto, chair Prof. Carlos Vasconcelos).

The Division of Rheumatology at Karolinska University Hospital operates across three sites: Solna, Danderyd, and Huddinge. We follow approximately 600 patients with SLE, the majority of whom contribute to clinical trials and observational studies. Research activities are anchored at the Department of Medicine Solna, Karolinska Institutet, with strong translational research integrating clinical and molecular expertise.

SLE-focused research is conducted within two research groups, both offering one SLEuro training bursary placement:

• Research Group Aleksandra Antovic — Contact: aleksandra.antovic@ki.se
• Research Group Ioannis Parodis — Contact: ioannis.parodis@ki.se

A tertiary referral rheumatology center for SLE, other systemic connective tissue diseases, vasculitis, and autoinflammatory syndromes. Recently appointed "EULAR Center of Excellence in Rheumatology 2022–2027". Member of ERN ReCONNET, EUMyoNET, and ERN RITA. The Unit has a dedicated Lupus Clinic, Day Hospital, and outpatient clinics for disease-specific conditions, including a pregnant patients clinic.

A reference center for systemic autoimmune diseases at European level (member of ERN-ReCONNET and ERN-RITA) and Spanish level (CSUR). More than 10,000 new patients visited over 25 years. The department organizes the Master in Autoimmune Diseases of the Universitat de Barcelona — the first University Master in Europe presenting autoimmune diseases comprehensively.

The fellowship is performed through the Master program (60 ECTS): Module 1 online, Module 2 lectures (October–February, in Barcelona), Module 3 clinical rotation, Module 4 research project.

French National Reference Center for Rare Auto-immune diseases. Part of ERN ReCONNET and the Euskampus consortium in collaboration with Bilbao. Current research focuses on the role of immunological actors in lupus pathogenesis, immune mediators in cardiovascular risk, and pregnancy and SLE. Interfaced with the ImmunoConcept CNRS UMR 5164 laboratory.

Members: Christophe Richez (MD PhD), Estibaliz Lazaro (MD PhD), Patrick Blanco (MD PhD), Claire Leibler (MD PhD), Lionel Couzi (MD PhD), Julien Seneschal (MD PhD).

The first autonomous University Rheumatology Clinic in Greece; a reference center for systemic autoimmune diseases in Crete and South Aegean. Capacity of 12 beds, day-care unit for biological therapies, dedicated SLE clinic, early arthritis clinic, and musculoskeletal ultrasound. Participates in Phase II–IV clinical trials and collaborative epidemiological studies.

Led by Prof. Marta E. Alarcón-Riquelme. GENyO focuses on molecular stratification of systemic autoimmune diseases (PRECISESADS), molecular phenotyping of disease states, and mouse models of SLE including single-cell RNASeq. Technology platforms include NextSeq 500, mass cytometry (CyTOF/Helios), flow cytometry, confocal microscopy, and bioinformatics analysis.

Coordinator of the IMI-funded PRECISESADS project (21 European academic groups, 2 SMEs, 5 Big Pharma) and the 3TR project (58 European academic groups, 3 biotechs, 8 pharma companies).

A EULAR Centre of Excellence. The lupus group, led by Ed Vital, covers clinical and translational research. Key areas include "at risk" populations followed to progression to SLE, stratification of biologic therapies, lupus arthritis (imaging, outcome measures), and cutaneous lupus. The lupus clinic includes more than 1,000 patients in observational studies. Specialist clinics for nephrology, dermatology, neurology, obstetrics and pulmonology.

Part of the University Department of Clinical and Experimental Science of UniBs, and a participating center of ERN-RECONNET. The Lupus Clinic (since January 2015) includes a dedicated mail and phone number for sudden needs. Overall, 400 SLE patients are regularly followed. The Unit hosts the Specialization School in Rheumatology of Brescia University. Since 2015, over 6 trainees from abroad have been hosted.

The Birmingham Lupus Clinics follow around 600 patients with SLE. Members of both the BILAG group and SLICC. Research includes tissue-based exploratory studies, clinical outcome studies, clinical trials and mixed methods research. A large database of patients starting in 1989 with detailed clinical assessment data at each visit.

Current research: long-term outcomes of patients with SLE, pathogenesis of cutaneous lupus and poor pregnancy outcomes, improving clinical outcomes including lupus nephritis, and the role of exercise and lifestyle modification.

LuVaCs (Lupus, Vasculitis and Complement-associated Systemic Diseases) is acknowledged by the Dutch Federation of University Medical Centers (NFU) and the European Reference Networks (ERN). A multidisciplinary team providing expert care through collaborations with Rheumatology, Vascular medicine, Obstetrics, Hematology, ENT, Pulmonology and Immunology. Research focuses on NETs, B-cells and complement immunology, digital health, and real-world data.