February 6, 2020

The complexity of lupus has been a challenge for decades, but advances in human immunology, technology, and computation offer a new and unique opportunity to speed up major advances.  The time is right to bring personalized medicine to lupus treatment. And going into 2020, the Lupus Research Alliance (LRA) is seizing that opportunity.

It starts with collaboration – and the LRA is issuing a new grant program that calls on the best minds in different areas of research to work together in multi-disciplinary teams.  The new funding program called the Global Team Science Award will provide up to $3 million over three years – the largest lupus research grants ever given by any non-governmental, not-for-profit institution.

The Award will support highly ambitious projects that build teams of established scientists from around the world to combine their expertise in diverse fields including technology, informatics (the study of information processing) immunology, and clinical research.

The Global Team Science Award is unique. Unlike many other collaborative awards where researchers work on their own, distinct projects under one umbrella, this Award requires that all Team leaders work on a common project from distinct perspectives.

The Award fosters using the latest technologies to study samples and clinical data from lupus patients. Bringing in the newest tools allows Teams to test novel questions and ideas to understand the very complexity that makes lupus so hard to study and to treat – how no two people with lupus are the same.  It is expected that Teams will bring about breakthroughs with a high potential for transforming lupus care tomorrow.

The LRA scientific leadership recognizes that putting together a proposal for projects of this magnitude will require time and resources.  Researchers who wish to apply for the Award will first submit a brief Letter of Intent by May 1, 2020. As many as six will be chosen to receive grants of up to $10,000 to assemble their team and develop a fully fleshed out plan.

“There is real wisdom to the old saying – the sum is greater than its parts,” commented LRA Chief Scientific Officer Dr. Teodora Staeva.  “An all hands-on-deck approach is critical to unravel lupus. This Award provides the resources to assemble the talent and the tools to tackle lupus from many angles.”

As the catalyst for collaboration, we are proud to lead the world’s scientists to transform lupus treatment and drive to a cure.