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Mechanistic Clinical Award

Lupus Research Alliance

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, and translationally relevant research.

Despite significant translational advances in recent years, and a continuously expanding therapeutic pipeline, major clinical needs remain unaddressed in lupus. While existing treatments are frequently beneficial, many patients do not respond adequately or suffer significant side effects—further confounded by the heterogeneity of the disease and the diverse population impacted. Importantly, even patients with low disease activity accrue organ damage over time. Thus, new conceptual and therapeutic approaches to augment currently available treatment options are urgently needed.

In addition to pharmacologic agents, lifestyle interventions hold great promise for improving outcomes in lupus. Defined as evidence-based clinical care that supports behavior change, lifestyle interventions can be applied to improve mental health, social connection, diet, exercise, and sleep, as well as to minimize stress and harmful exposures. In the context of lupus, these interventions have the potential to affect both clinical outcomes and quality of life. Many individuals with lupus may already employ some form of lifestyle modification to manage their disease, be it diet, exercise, or monitoring with personal health devices. A more comprehensive and evidence-based understanding of lifestyle intervention effects and underlying mechanisms would enable broader adoption and expand our therapeutic armamentarium.

KEY DATES RFA Release: November 14, 2025

Full Applications Due: February 12, 2026

Application Decision: June 2026

Expected Start Date: August 2026

AI based application success predictor

Rigorously reviewed by international scientific committees, LRA proposals succeed when they demonstrate excellence on several core criteria:

🔹 1. Scientific Relevance to Lupus

LRA prioritizes research that is directly applicable to lupus — especially projects that could clarify pathogenesis, identify therapeutic targets, or improve diagnosis and treatment. Broad autoimmune projects are considered when relevance to lupus is explicit. Lupus Research Alliance

Tip: Clearly frame how outcomes would advance lupus biology or clinical care.

🔹 2. Innovation & High Impact Potential

Many LRA programs (especially Lupus Innovation and GTSA) reward novel, daring ideas that explore unexplored mechanisms or push new technologies (e.g., engineered cell therapies, precision biomarkers). Lupus Research Alliance

Tip: Highlight novelty, transformative potential, and why current approaches fall short.

🔹 3. Methodological Rigor & Feasibility

Strong proposals include:

Clear hypotheses and aims

Well-defined methods and milestones

Appropriate power and statistical plans

Realistic timelines to complete milestones within the funding period

Feasibility is assessed in the context of the project’s ambition.

🔹 4. Investigator Track Record & Team Strength

Reviewers consider:

Prior publications and relevant experience,

Demonstrated ability to complete proposed work,

Institutional support and infrastructure

For collaborative awards like GTSA, reviewers emphasize complementary expertise across team members.

🔹 5. Clear Translational or Clinical Pathway

Especially for programs funding later-stage or clinical research (e.g., Mechanistic Clinical Award), proposals that articulate a credible pathway from discovery to patient impact are more compelling.

🔹 6. Diversity & Workforce Development Alignment

Awards like Empowering Lupus Research explicitly value broadening representation in the lupus research community, prioritizing candidates from diverse backgrounds or those committed to research inclusivity. Lupus Research Alliance

🧠 Practical Tips for Applications

✔ Read specific RFAs carefully (including eligibility, budgets, and deadlines). NIH-style narrative clarity is crucial.
✔ Align aims with lupus mechanistic insights or clinical relevance — vague general autoimmune studies are less competitive.
✔ Craft clear specific aims and milestones, with contingency plans for risks.
✔ Justify statistical considerations for discovery/clinical outcomes.
✔ For team science awards, invest time in building a balanced, interdisciplinary team with institutional commitments.
✔ Engage with LRA scientific staff (when opportunities allow) to clarify program goals and expectations.

📌 Summary: LRA Funding & Success Factors

Program	Typical Support	Focus	Success Predictors
Lupus Innovation Award	~$300K/2 yrs	High-risk discovery	Novel concepts & mechanisms
Lupus Mechanisms & Targets Award	~$600K/3 yrs	Target/pathway discovery	Mechanistic clarity & translation
TRP-ECT	$300–600K/2 yrs	Cell therapy research	Translational designs & safety
Global Team Science Award	~$3M/3 yrs	Interdisciplinary lupus projects	Team synergy & innovation
Empowering Career/Postdoc	$200–600K	Early-career development	Career trajectory & diversity
Mechanistic Clinical Award	$0.5–1M	Precision clinical lupus research	Clinical linkage & real-world impact

Specialties

Clinical Trials

Pharmacology

Eligibility Requirements

Applicants must have a doctoral degree (MD, PhD, DO, or equivalent); hold a faculty or equivalent position; and lead an independent research team—i.e., your institution enables you to apply for a non-training grant independently as the primary PI—at an academic, nonprofit, or government research institution. US federal government research laboratories are not eligible for this award. There are no citizenship requirements for investigators applying to this program.

Applicants who previously received LRA funding must be in good standing with all required reports and previously agreed to Terms and Conditions of the LRA-funded project(s) at the time of application submission.

Sponsor Details

Sponsor Institute/Organizations: Lupus Research Alliance

Sponsor Type: Corporate/Non-Profit

Address: 52 Vanderbilt Ave, Suite 401, New York, NY 10017 | 646-884-6000

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