Newswise — SAN FRANCISCO, Calif., May 22, 2014/PRNewswire—“Scleroderma in the Kidney” will provide information for patients, family members and others about renal complications caused by scleroderma, a rare autoimmune disease affecting the connective tissues. Dr. Christopher Denton, Professor of Experimental Rheumatology at University College London (UCL) Medical School and Consultant Rheumatologist and Joint Director of the Centre for Rheumatology, Royal Free Hospital, London will present the webinar on Thursday, May 29, 2014 at 12:30 p.m. EDT. Register online at www.sclerodermaRESEARCH.ORG. Attendees will learn about symptoms, warning signs, new treatments and how to better manage the disease.

Dr. Denton runs the largest scleroderma service in the United Kingdom, seeing more than 1,000 scleroderma patients annually, and has published extensively on laboratory and clinical aspects of Raynaud's phenomenon (a common symptom of scleroderma), connective tissue disease and pulmonary hypertension. A practicing physician in addition to laboratory clinician, he also leads the UK Scleroderma Study Group (UKSSG), is Treasurer of EUSTAR and Chairs the Heberden Scientific Committee of the British Society for Rheumatology (BSR).

“We’re now in an era where treatments are having an impact on outcome,” says Dr. Denton. “We’re also starting to understand the very complex biology that links the different processes in scleroderma.”

Dr. Denton’s kidney-focused webinar is the 14th in an ongoing educational series available live or post-broadcast on the Scleroderma Research Foundation’s website at www.sclerodermaRESEARCH.org. The series is free and made possible by generous support from Gilead Sciences, MedImmune and United Therapeutics. Where:Register online at: https://cc.readytalk.com/r/ye4l56s7mf0j&eom When:Thursday, May 29, 2014 at 12:30 p.m. EDT.

About SclerodermaThe word scleroderma means hard skin, but the disease is much more—often affecting the internal organs with life-threatening consequences. Scleroderma is considered a rare autoimmune disease and has one of the highest mortality rates of the rheumatic diseases. Women comprise 80% of the patient population with typical onset between the ages of 30 and 50. Scleroderma is characterized by widespread vascular abnormalities, immune dysregulation and fibrotic complications affecting multiple organs including the skin and lungs. The disease is not contagious or directly hereditary and scientists are still searching for possible causes. There is no known cure and current therapies address various symptoms rather than truly arresting disease progression.

About The Scleroderma Research Foundation:The Scleroderma Research Foundation is America’s leading nonprofit investor in scleroderma research. It was founded in San Francisco in 1987 by scleroderma patient Sharon Monsky who lost her battle to the disease in 2002. Monsky’s legacy lives on through the organization, chaired by Luke Evnin, Ph.D., a scleroderma patient and managing partner of MPM Capital, a dedicated investor in life sciences.

The Foundation’s collaborative approach is guided by a world-class Scientific Advisory Board and is empowering scientists from leading institutions to work together to develop an understanding of how scleroderma begins, how it progresses and what can be done to slow, halt or reverse the disease process.

About The Centre for Rheumatology at the Royal Free Hospital The mission of the Centre for Rheumatology at the Royal Free Hospital is to carry out basic scientific and clinical research to understand the initiating events and the molecular and cellular mechanisms that underlie the development and progression of autoimmune connective tissue diseases, and the development of effective therapies. The Centre is located at the Royal Free Hospital in Hampstead, London and is a major referral center for connective tissue diseases and more specifically scleroderma and Raynaud's Phenomenon.

For more information, call 1-800-441-CURE(2873) or visit www.sclerodermaRESEARCH.org. Follow the SRF on Facebook and Twitter.

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