The National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) awarded a $2,685,420 Project Grant under the Allergy and Infectious Diseases Research program (CFDA 93.855) to Progentec Diagnostics Inc. The grant aims to validate two innovative blood test algorithms - the Lupus Flare Risk Index (L-FRI) and the Lupus Disease Activity Index (L-DAI) - that can detect worsening disease activity and imminent flares in systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) patients. This late-stage research will...
This Project Grant award from the National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases (NIAMS), under the Arthritis, Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases Research program (CFDA 93.846), is focused on determining whether a novel splice-modulating oligomer (SMO) can be used to concurrently eradicate pathogenic plasma cells and their precursors in systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE). The $300,000 award, effective from September 18, 2024 to August 31, 2026, will be utilized by the...
This Project Grant award of $709,019 from the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) under the Allergy and Infectious Diseases Research program (CFDA 93.855) supports research into the role of the FOXP3 isoform in the development of systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE). The research aims to determine how the expression of the FOXP3 exon 2 isoform leads to regulatory T cell dysfunction and loss of immune tolerance, resulting in the autoantibody production and other...
The National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) awarded a U44 Cooperative Agreement titled "TARGETING BCMA+ CELLS WITH RNA-ENGINEERED CAR T CELLS TO TREAT LUPUS: A PHASE 2 CLINICAL STUDY" to Cartesian Therapeutics Inc. under the Trans-NIH Research Support program (CFDA 93.310). The $149,008 award supports the development of Descartes-08, an RNA-engineered chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T cell therapy targeting B cell maturation antigen (BCMA) for treating systemic...
This $600,000 project grant from the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases will support General Nanotherapeutics LLC's development of nanoimmunotherapy for chronic immune-mediated diseases. The company will leverage nanoparticles to target and expand immunoregulatory cells ex vivo and assess their ability to suppress effector immune responses and induce remission in vivo, including in a lupus model. This proof-of-concept work aligns with the Allergy and Infectious Diseases...
The National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) awarded a 5-year, $793,093 Project Grant (CFDA 93.855 - Allergy and Infectious Diseases Research) to the Oklahoma Medical Research Foundation to study the regulatory landscape of systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) with cardiovascular disease (CVD) comorbidity. The research aims to identify the underlying causal variants, target genes, and cell types involved in SLE pathogenesis, with a focus on the impact of SLE and CVD-associated...
The University of California, San Francisco will conduct research on NR4A family proteins as markers and mediators of B cell tolerance in systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) under a three-year, $738,631 Project Grant from the Department of the Army Medical Command. The grant is part of the Military Medical Research and Development program administered by the Department of Defense and aims to transform military and public health through innovative medical research solutions for battlefield...
This Project Grant award from the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (CFDA 93.855 - Allergy and Infectious Diseases Research) supports a $173,556 research study at Yale University to investigate the role of retroelements in the autoimmune disease systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE). The 17-month project aims to (1) delineate gene and retroelement expression patterns as well as inflammatory cytokine levels in SLE patient blood and skin samples, (2) identify and characterize...
This $375,100 Project Grant awarded by the National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases (NIAMS), under the Arthritis, Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases Research program (CFDA 93.846), will fund a study to investigate the relationship between nucleic-acid-dependent phase separation and immune responses against the protein cGAS in systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE). The research team at The Johns Hopkins University will develop assays to test whether SLE autoantibodies...
This Project Grant award from the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), under the Allergy and Infectious Diseases Research program (CFDA 93.855), provides $256,808 to the University of Washington to investigate the role of dysregulated mRNA splicing in systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE). The research aims to: 1) Expand the analysis of altered mRNA splicing in SLE neutrophils and understand its relationship to disease characteristics, and 2) Explore the consequences of...