New grant program awards $600K to boost sarcoidosis research
First round of funding will support efforts of 3 early-career scientists
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The Ann Theodore Foundation (ATF) and the Milken Institute have awarded $600,000 to three early-career researchers studying sarcoidosis in the U.S., with the goal of improving understanding of the disease, as well as its treatment and care.
The new grant program, called Ann Theodore Foundation Learning Opportunities in Medicine and Sarcoidosis (ATF-LOMAS), has completed its first round of funding, and is now accepting applications for its second round until Oct. 26. While funds come from the ATF, the program is managed by the Milken Institute’s Science Philanthropy Accelerator for Research and Collaboration (SPARC).
“The Milken Institute’s SPARC has been proud to partner with ATF since 2020 to improve scientific understanding of and care for sarcoidosis,” Melissa Stevens, executive vice president of strategic philanthropy at the Milken Institute, said in a news story from the nonprofit. “Adding new professionals to the field and ensuring a continuous pipeline of talent is critical for building a clearer picture of this condition and improving care for people who live with it.”
Second round will fund several 2-year projects
The second round of the ATF-LOMAS program will award up to $100,000 per year for up to five two-year projects led by early-career researchers, defined as those within five years of starting independent faculty roles who have not yet received major grants.
Projects must study sarcoidosis in one or more ways, including why symptoms vary between patients, how the immune system contributes to the disease, possible causes, and complications.
Eligible studies may also include those using new research tools to improve knowledge about the disease and those evaluating the therapeutic potential of repurposing existing medications for the treatment of sarcoidosis. After proposal selection in early 2027, each awardee will be paired with a mentor for guidance.
“The funding that the foundation has deployed to date represents the largest single source of focused support for sarcoidosis,” said Lisa Spalding, spokesperson for the ATF. “In a historically small and fragile field, we believe that building a self-sustaining pool of community and resources is the surest strategy to ultimately advance better treatments and care regimens for those with sarcoidosis and their families.”
Stevens added: “Grant programs like ATF-LOMAS can provide rising generations of researchers and clinicians with enough funding and guidance to create a foothold in sarcoidosis when they may not have been able to otherwise.”
Projects target gene activity, environmental factors
Sarcoidosis is an inflammatory disease in which clusters of immune cells, called granulomas, form in different organs, such as the lungs. Patients may experience symptoms from fatigue to shortness of breath and pain.
Current treatments mainly rely on anti-inflammatory medications that aim to ease symptoms. However, these treatments do not address the underlying causes of the disease, which remain poorly understood.
The first ATF-LOMAS-funded project, led by Bing Ma, PhD, at the University of Maryland, Baltimore, will focus on metabolites — small molecules produced during normal bodily processes — that may predict how sarcoidosis progresses. The project is titled “Prognostic and Mechanistic Metabolomic Drivers of Sarcoidosis Progression.”
Kristen Mathias, MD, at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, will lead another awarded project, titled “Environmental Drivers of Clinical Heterogeneity in Pulmonary Sarcoidosis.” The project aims to identify environmental factors that may explain why people with pulmonary sarcoidosis (when the disease affects the lungs) can experience different symptoms and disease patterns, known as clinical heterogeneity.
The third grant was given to a project, titled “Transcriptomic Signatures of Sarcoidosis-Associated Pulmonary Fibrosis,” that will be led by Mary Richert, MD, at the National Jewish Health in Denver. The goal is to study patterns of gene activity linked to sarcoidosis-related pulmonary fibrosis, a condition marked by lung tissue scarring, which can make breathing increasingly difficult.
For patients, these studies could lead to better ways of predicting the disease’s course and developing more effective treatments, while also taking a step toward more personalized care.
However, “promising researchers and clinicians often leave the sarcoidosis field in favor of other fields with more consistent funding, where they feel more secure building their careers,” Stevens said. “Gaps in research funding — and the resulting workforce gaps — like these can be remedied with targeted infusions of philanthropic capital.”
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