Deadlines
Letter of Intent: April 2, 2025
Submission: August 4, 2025
Award Amount: $300,000 over 2 years
Background
The Lupus Research Alliance (LRA) is the largest private funder of lupus research worldwide. The organization aims to transform lupus treatment while advancing towards a cure by funding cutting-edge, innovative research. At present, therapy for lupus is mostly empiric and involves largely non-specific antiinflammatory and immunosuppressive agents. While these treatments are frequently beneficial, many patients do not respond adequately or suffer significant side effects. Importantly, even patients with low disease activity accrue organ damage over time. There are many unanswered questions regarding the pathogenesis of lupus. Thus, new conceptual and therapeutic approaches are urgently needed. To enable the development of more effective and safer lupus therapies, and to address major barriers in lupus research and translation, the LRA has established the Lupus Innovation Award (LIA).
The Lupus Innovation Award provides support for pioneering, high-risk, high-reward approaches to major challenges in lupus research. Special emphasis is placed on lupus studies exploring fundamental mechanisms, novel targets and pathways, novel technologies, and interdisciplinary approaches. Both early career and established investigators new to lupus with highly innovative ideas are encouraged to apply.
Research Emphasis Areas
Projects must address or be aligned with at least one of the following LRA strategic research priorities: 1. Defining human lupus heterogeneity by molecular pathology to stratify patients by active disease mechanisms. 2. Integrating the research continuum to bring advances to patients. 3. Enabling global research/technology collaborations.
For more information, please see the Foundation opportunity webpage.