DANVERS, MA – The National Scleroderma Foundation (Foundation) is proud to announce the 2024 grant recipients, awarding seven prestigious grants to a mix of new and established investigators. This year’s awards, totaling $1.4 million, underscore our ongoing commitment to propelling research forward, edging closer to a cure.
The Foundation’s rigorous, peer-reviewed research grants program, helmed by the Foundation’s Research Committee, prioritizes scientific merit and provides funding for both early career and established investigators working to unravel the complexities of scleroderma. Through our dedication to funding impactful projects, the Foundation has proudly committed more than $33 million to advance medical research in scleroderma since 1998.
Continued research is critical to accelerating scientific discovery, developing new treatments, providing hope to individuals living with the disease, and ultimately finding a cure for scleroderma.
The selection process for this year’s grants adhered to the National Institutes of Health’s guidelines and ranking system. This ensures that only proposals of the highest scientific and technical merit are recommended for funding. Our review panel, comprising renowned scientific experts, plays a pivotal role in maintaining these high standards.
This new research portfolio includes three New Investigator Awards and four Established Investigator Awards with a blend of basic and translational-focused science, including research focused on the pediatric population.
We are proud to introduce the 2024 Class of Investigators:
Ramadan Ali, PhD, University of Michigan | Mark Flapan New Investigator Award: exploring mechanistic connections between NETs and scleroderma vasculopathy
Brendon Baker, PhD, University of Michigan | Debra Lurvey Memorial Research Grant; Established Investigator Award: studying metabolic and epigenetic targeting of stromal cell-matrix crosstalk for reversing fibrosis in scleroderma
Laura Polivka, MD, PhD, Cedars-Sinai Medical Center (Los Angeles) | New Investigator Award (supported in part by the Marta Marx Fund for the Eradication of Scleroderma): exploring the pathogenesis of severe juvenile systemic sclerosis
Maria Teves, PhD, Virginia Commonwealth University | Walter & Marie Coyle Research Grant; Established Investigator Award: studying advancing scleroderma treatment with a study using primary cilia as a therapeutic target
Mohammed Osman, MD, PhD, University of Alberta | Established Investigator Award: evaluating a role for polysialic acid as a diagnostic, prognostic, and therapeutic target in systemic sclerosis
Reshmi Parameswaran, MS, PhD, Case Western Reserve University | Established Investigator Award: BAFF CAR-T treatment for systemic sclerosis
ABOUT NATIONAL SCLERODERMA FOUNDATION
A relentless force in finding a cure and improving the lives of people affected by scleroderma, the National Scleroderma Foundation advances medical research, promotes disease awareness, and provides support and education to people with scleroderma, their families, and support networks. Supported by a network of thousands of individuals across the United States, the Foundation is the leading nonprofit funder of peer-reviewed research to discover the cause, understand the mechanisms, and overcome scleroderma forever.
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