FSR awarded an additional $300,000 towards our Sarcoidosis Disease Model program.
This recent award brings FSR’s total investment in finding a viable disease model for sarcoidosis to $1,050,000 to date.
A major limiting factor in discovering new insights into the pathogenesis of sarcoidosis is the lack of a viable disease model. In a two-phase plan, FSR is funding early stage research in this area. Introduced in 2016, this research program aims to invest in projects that show promise of identifying a viable disease model for sarcoidosis. With this kind of disease model, researchers will be able to better understand the causes of sarcoidosis, as well as more easily identify and test new treatments for the disease.
Not only does FSR’s Sarcoidosis Disease Model grant opportunity provide funding for researchers working on disease model projects, it also serves to ignite additional interest in this research space and attract funders for larger investments into the sarcoidosis disease model space. The first FSR grant – with funding awarded in Spring of 2017 – totaled $750,000 for five awardees. The most recent award provided a continuation of funding to three of the original projects after a competitive, closed application process.
During the first phase of FSR support for this project we engaged a potent research team to address the need for a useful laboratory model to promote mechanistic and high throughput sarcoidosis research. The scientific goals [of this next phase of funding are] to expand our understanding of environment disease triggers, identify novel mechanisms during early granuloma formation and consider related therapeutic targets. FSR funding for Phase 2 of this project will be an excellent investment”.
Continuation of Funding Awardees (2019)
- Ohio State University – Elliott Crouser, MD, Landon Locke, PhD, Mark Julian, MS
Ex Vivo Human Granuloma Model of Sarcoidosis: Phase 2 - Yale School of Medicine – Erica Herzog, MD, PhD
Development of an ex vivo mimetic of the Sarcoidosis lung microenvironment - Medical University of Vienna – Thomas Weichhart, PhD
Further Characterization and Improvement of a Novel Mouse Model that Spontaneously Develops Progressive Sarcoidosis by Chronic Activation of mTORC1
Disease Model Grant Awardees (2017)
- Medical University of Vienna – Thomas Weichhart, PhD
Characterization and Improvement of a Novel Mouse Model that Spontaneously Develops Progressive Sarcoidosis by Chronic Activation of mTORC1 - Ohio State University – Elliott Crouser, MD, Larry Schlesinger, MD, Wolfgang Sadee, Dr.rer.nat, Peter White, PhD
A Novel In Vitro Human Granuloma Model of Sarcoidosis - University of Freiburg – Peggy Engelhard, PhD, Gernot Zissel,PhD, Joachim Müller-Quernheim, MD, Marina A. Freudenberg, MD
Models for the investigations of the involvement of type I interferon (IFN-aB) in the pathogenesis of sarcoidosis -
University of Hull, York Medical School – Simon Hart, MBChB, PhD
Development and application of a multi-scale computational model of sarcoidosis to predict therapeutic approaches for non-self-resolving disease -
Yale School of Medicine – Erica Herzog, MD, PhD
Development of an ex vivo mimetic of the Sarcoidosis lung microenvironment