Julien Haroche, MD, PhD (Hôpital Pitié-Salpêtrière, Paris, France)
Laurent Arnaud, MD (Hôpital Pitié-Salpêtrière, Paris, France)
Proposals for the 2nd $50,000 research grant awarded by the ECD-GA were due December 31, 2011. In April 2012, the organization announced the grant was awarded to Laurent Arnaud, MD, PhD and Julen Haroche, MD, PhD from SHôpital Pitié-Salpêtrière in Paris, France for the study described as, “Understanding dendritic cell lineages in Erdheim-Chester disease: towards a non-invasive diagnosis“. The aim of this study is to understand the primary mechanisms involved in the pathogenic differentiation of histiocytes in ECD, as well as to use these data to derive a screening & diagnostic test for ECD that would rely on blood sampling without the need for a biopsy. The study is taking longer than expected and final results are expected in late summer 2015.