Happy New Year! We hope you had a safe and happy holiday season! As far as we're concerned, the year is off to a great start! We have our first educational event of the calendar year coming up - LSI's 13th Annual Empowering Lupus Patients Educational Event – and there is still time to register. There are more details below. We select topics for our educational events based on feedback we receive from you – the lupus community. This event usually brings out about 50 people. The Empowering Lupus Patient Educational Event would not be possible without the continued support of Robertha McNeil who leads the Lupus Support Group at Trinity United Church of Christ. Thank you Robertha for making this event happen! Educational events are free and open to the public thanks to the generosity of our donors and sponsors. Thanks to everyone who donated to our holiday giving campaign! Your support has enabled us to move forward with gusto for 2019! A sponsorship from GlaxoSmithKlein has also made educational events possible this year. Together with Northwestern University and Dr. Rosalind Ramsey-Goldman, the LSI is looking for individuals identifying with African-American, Black and/or Afro-Carribean descent to participate in a focus group to discuss this group's participation in clinical trials and evaluate the effectiveness of current clinical trial education and participation programs. The focus group is part of a project entitled Clinical Trials Awareness Modules for the Lupus Conversations Academic-Community Partnership. The study will conduct focus groups in two cities (Boston and Chicago) and discuss information on the range and diversity of positive and negative feelings about participating in trials. If you are interested in participating in this focus group, please contact me via email at mary@lupusil.org or call me at 312-648-6053. Walks are another way to raise awareness about lupus and keep the LSI's mission moving forward! All 4 2019 Illinois Lupus Walks are open and registration and fundraising has begun! The earlier you register, the more time you'll have to raise funds and awareness about lupus! We're starting committees for each walk now, if you'd like to get involved please contact Liz Guzman at 312-542-0006. This year, we are an official charity for the Chicago Spring Half Marathon! If you've ever wanted to join Lupus Charity Runners but thought a full marathon was too much – this event is for you! See below for more information on the half marathon, Bank of America Shamrock Shuffle and the Bank of America Chicago Marathon. We are so excited about 2019 – we look forward to seeing you at an LSI event soon! Together we make a difference, Mary | 
