He explained that, over many 

years, researchers gathered tissue 
samples from cohorts of patients 
and genetically analyzed these 
samples to identify groups of genes 
that were activated in the progres-
sion of kidney disease. According 
to Kretzler, these analyses helped 
establish the connection to arthri-
tis.

“After identifying these genes, 

we mapped them into networks of 
interacting genes, which led us to 
identify a signal transduction cas-
cade called JAK-STAT, an inflam-
mation pathway implicated in 
arthritis,” Kretzler said.

Collaborations 
amongst 
the 

University Medical School’s Busi-
ness Development, the University 
research team and Eli Lilly & Co., 
the pharmaceutical company that 
first engineered the drug to treat 
arthritis, were crucial to the study. 
Kretzler said this collaboration 
made the strategy of repurposing 
the drug possible.

“This is an example of how con-

necting very different knowledge 
domains can help make what we 
believe is a significant finding for 
treating a disease that has evaded 
any advancement in care for the 

last two decades,” Kretzler said.

Future research aims to identify 

different target compounds that 
are involved in the same JAK-STAT 
pathway, or in other pathways 
that have connections to diabetic 
kidney disease. Once this is done, 
Brosius said researchers can tailor 
treatments to inhibit or activate the 
pathways.

“We are looking for other path-

ways and targets that aren’t even 
related,” Brosius said. “We think 
that patients have different ways of 
getting to the same final point.”

This approach is going to be 

helpful in Latin America where the 
church has been losing members 
to protestant churches. Francis’ 
approach is very appealing and is 
going to be enormously helpful in 
Latin America.”

Not everyone, however, was 

receptive of the Pope’s anti-capi-
talist messages. Evo Morales, the 
president of Bolivia, said Pope 
Francis was preaching socialism.

In addition to social issues, Pope 

Francis addressed several envi-
ronmental concerns as well: the 
impact of mining on ecosystems 
and the impact farming has on land 
and water resources.

According to Daniel Levine, 

professor emeritus of political sci-
ence at the University as well as a 
professor of political science at the 
Pontificia Universidad Católica of 
Perú, the Pope saw these issues as 
affecting the economic inequal-
ity the indigenous populations are 
experiencing.

“For Francis, the environment is 

a religious issue,” Levine said. “The 
earth is God’s gift and we need to 
respect that gift and think about 
how our use affects all. What he 
is doing is precisely what someone 

in his position can and should do: 
shine light on the issue, legitimize 
it as a matter for public discussion, 
take a position and show its impli-
cations. As for the criticism that 
he should leave science to the sci-
entists, Francis does have a scien-
tific background, more than many 
politicians who cite the science 
only to scorn it.” Before beginning 
his seminary studies, Pope Francis 
worked as a chemical technician.

Ramirez does not see the trip 

as an overall success, however, in 
terms of maintaining the num-
ber of Catholic believers in Latin 
America.

Ramirez said an increasing num-

ber of people raised in the church 
eventually leave it as adults. Citing 
a November 2014 Pew Research 
Institute report on Religion in 
Latin America, Ramirez said that 
of the 94 percent of Paraguay-
ans raised Roman Catholic, only 
a population of 89 percent remain 
as adults. In Ecuador, of the 91 
percent raised in the church, only 
79 percent remain as adults, and 
in Bolivia of the 88 percent raised 
Roman Catholic, only 77 identify as 
Catholic as adults.

“As a researcher and observer 

of ecumenical dialogues, I see 
that this trip is falling very short,” 
Ramirez said. “Perhaps that was 
not on the agenda at all. In any 

case, it would have been an uphill 
slog in a hemisphere where Catho-
lic prelates and elites still have 
trouble relinquishing the levers of 
political and social influence.”

In what was seen as a controver-

sial move for many in the Catholic 
Church, Pope Francis also invited 
gay rights activist leader Simon 
Cazal to his speech on Sunday in 
Asunción, Paraguay.

Ramirez explained the signifi-

cance of this invitation. “I wouldn’t 
expect him to reference the recent 
U.S. Supreme Court decision,” 
Ramirez said. “In fact, things are 
so bad for LGBT folk in Paraguay 
that the simplest gesture of com-
passion and pastoral solidarity 
may suffice for that meeting in that 
country.”

Porter-Szücs saw the Pope’s 

decision to address such issues as 
LGBTQ rights as a step in the right 
direction for Catholics and non-
Catholics alike.

“His 
influence 
among 
non-

Catholics is even more power-
ful,” Porter-Szücs said. “Now he’s 
every non-Catholic’s favorite pope 
because he’s talking about issues 
that transcend denominations.”

Pope Francis will continue his 

oversea travels this fall with a trip 
planned to tour the U.S.

10

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