{"id":281,"date":"2017-12-14T15:06:16","date_gmt":"2017-12-14T20:06:16","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.myositis.org\/research\/tma-grants-and-fellowships\/tma-funded-projects\/"},"modified":"2025-03-21T10:37:16","modified_gmt":"2025-03-21T14:37:16","slug":"tma-funded-projects","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.myositis.org\/research\/tma-grants-fellowships\/tma-funded-projects\/","title":{"rendered":"TMA-Funded Projects"},"content":{"rendered":"

Milestones in TMA Funded Research<\/h3>\n

Since 2002, The Myositis Association has funded research designed to understand the underlying causes and natural progression of myositis, develop better treatments and more effective therapies, and ultimately to create a cure for this collection of disabling diseases.<\/p>\n

Funds for this research effort come to TMA primarily from myositis patients, their families, and friends. Each year, proposals are sought for basic and applied research projects as well as applications for fellowships from young scientists who have an interest in a career studying myositis. Based on recommendations from TMA\u2019s Medical Advisory Board, TMA\u2019s Board of Directors chooses the most promising of these proposals to fund.<\/p>\n

If you would like to promote more research into myositis diseases, please consider making a donation<\/a> to TMA.<\/p>\n

Two projects were selected in 2024 for funding in 2025.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Thomas Lloyd, MD, PhD<\/strong>, Chief of Neurology at Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX, was awarded $80,000 for his project \u201cSenolytic therapies in a novel patient-derived myoblast model of inclusion body myositis (IBM).\u201d This study proposes the innovative hypothesis that the chronic inflammation in IBM causes new muscle cells to become aged and deteriorated. With new drugs in development for various age-related diseases (senolytic therapies), this project will test these drugs with an in vitro model of IBM to quickly identify drugs already approved by the FDA that may be effective for treating this rare disease. The hope is to identify treatments that can enter clinical trials in patients with IBM within the next 3-5 years.<\/p>\n

Christian Lood, PhD,<\/strong> Associate Professor of Medicine at the University of Washington School of Medicine in Seattle, WA was awarded $45,000 for his efforts to identify \u201cMitochondrial contribution to juvenile dermatomyositis (JDM).\u201d Mitochondria are special structures within human cells that provide energy to the cell. It has recently been discovered that mitochondria can leave cells and transfer elsewhere. Mitochondria have been found in the bloodstream of those who have juvenile dermatomyositis (JDM). This study will investigate the role of mitochondria in JDM to try to understand what effect this has on disease progression.<\/p>\n

Two projects were selected in 2023 for funding in 2024-2025.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Julio Huapaya, MD, MHS<\/strong>, a pulmonary and critical care fellow at the National Institutes of Health and a postdoctoral researcher at Johns Hopkins Interstitial Lung Disease and Idiopathic Pulmonary Fibrosis Program, was awarded a two-year, $100,000 fellowship grant. His project will measure autoantibody levels in the blood of patients with interstitial lung disease (ILD) using a new testing method.<\/p>\n

Neurologist Merrilee Needham, <\/strong>MBBS, PhD<\/strong>, who leads the Myositis Research Group at the Perron Institute and serves in a number of consulting and teaching positions in the Perth area of Western Australia, was awarded a two-year pilot grant of $200,000. Her project aims to use deep learning predictive modeling to analyze muscle biopsy samples donated by individuals who have been diagnosed with inclusion body myositis to try to identify what specific proteins in the muscles trigger the autoimmune attack against muscle cells.<\/p>\n

Two projects were selected in 2022 for funding in 2023-2024.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Begum Horuluoglu, PhD<\/strong>, a postdoctoral fellow in the Division of Rheumatology at Karolinska Institute in Stockholm, Sweden, was awarded a fellowship of $100,000 to explore the mechanisms behind why the human immune system mistakenly attacks muscle cells in the autoimmune disease of myositis.<\/p>\n

Sarah Tansley, BSc, MBChB, PhD,<\/strong> senior clinical lecturer in rheumatology at the University of Bath in the UK, was awarded a pilot grant of $200,000 to study variability among laboratories for myositis autoantibody testing and to develop a protocol for more reliable identification of these important biomarkers found in the blood of patients with myositis.<\/p>\n

Two grants were selected in 2021 for funding in 2022-2023.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Chiseko Ikenaga MD, PhD<\/strong> has been granted $100,000 in fellowship support over a two year period at Johns Hopkins University.\u00a0 Dr. Ikenaga\u2019s project seeks to identify potential novel biomarkers for Inclusion Body Myositis. \u00a0\u00a0This project will compare the genes present in IBM muscle cells to those present in healthy\/control muscle cells.\u00a0 If successful, this research may identify genes that are markers for the disease and that could enable earlier diagnosis and a means to measure disease severity over time.<\/p>\n

A pilot study grant of $200,000 has been provided to Kanneboyina Nagaraju, DVM, PhD<\/strong> of Binghamton University in New York.\u00a0 Dr. Nagarahu\u2019s research will focus on inflammatory muscle changes seen in Dermatomyositis and Polymyositis and their similarity to those seen in viral infections. \u00a0The study will evaluate whether this inflammation can be blocked using viral proteins.\u00a0 If successful, it could open up a new strategy for potential treatments.<\/p>\n

In the 2020 grant cycle, TMA selected the following research studies for funding starting in 2021:<\/strong><\/p>\n

Mazen Dimachkie MD<\/strong>, professor of Neurology at the University of Kansas, was awarded $200,000 for IBM research. Dr. Dimachkie will work with international IBM investigators on a randomized, double-blind, controlled Phase III trial of Sirolimus in sporadic IBM. The funding will be used over the course of two years, collaborates with research in France and Australia, and supports U.S. study sites Kansas and Maryland.<\/p>\n

A fellowship of $100,000\u00a0over two years was awarded to\u00a0Dr. Alexander Oldroyd<\/strong>\u00a0for a project at the University of Manchester. Dr. Oldroyd\u2019s project is at the Center for Epidemiology Versus Arthritis. TMA funds will support remote continuous disease activity monitoring in DM and PM by monitoring gait and daily symptoms.<\/p>\n

Additional projects supported by TMA’s Research Grant Program<\/strong><\/p>\n

Myositis, All Forms<\/a>
\nInclusion body myositis<\/a>
\nDermatomyositis, polymyositis and necrotizing myopathy<\/a>
\nJuvenile dermatomyositis<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Milestones in TMA Funded Research Since 2002, The Myositis Association has funded research designed to understand the underlying causes and natural progression of myositis, develop better treatments and more effective…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":189,"featured_media":0,"parent":279,"menu_order":200,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-281","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nTMA-Funded Projects - The Myositis Association<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"TMA has approved 53 research projects, including grants and fellowships, totaling nearly $7 million. 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