Research Grant Funding

Call for Proposals Now Open - 2023 Research Grants 

Clinician and scientist investigators are engaged in groundbreaking myasthenia research all over the world. MGFA funds promising research studies and clinical trials to discover potential new treatments and methods of living a better quality of life with MG.  

Nancy Law High Impact Award

Proposals for the 2023 Nancy High-Impact Award are now being accepted. This award was created in honor of Nancy Law, the former CEO and board chair of the Myasthenia Gravis Foundation of America. Her dedication to supporting people with MG inspired this research funding award opportunity.

If you are conducting research that will ultimately improve the lives of people with myasthenia gravis and related neuromuscular junction disorders, you are invited to submit a letter of intent by June 12. 

MGFA will fund highly meritorious projects with a maximum total cost of $100,000 per year, for a period of 3 years.

Established and new independent investigators with faculty status are eligible to apply. This RFA is not open to for-profit (i.e. biotechnology and pharmaceutical) applicants. Applications in all areas of MG research will be accepted from U.S. and international applicants.

Proposals will be reviewed by the MGFA research committee as well as ad hoc reviewers when required; NIH scoring scale and categories will be used.  

Letters of Intent and all other application materials must be submitted through ProposalCentral. You must create an account and log in to view the information. The appropriate forms will be found by searching for Myasthenia Gravis Foundation of American under “Grant Opportunities.” Please reach out with any questions.

More details of this opportunity are available in the Research Funding Announcement document. 

KEY DATES

High Impact Pilot Project Award

The request for a letter of intent for the spring 2023 grant cycle is now closed. Those invited to submit a proposal were notified on or before April 15, 2023.

This grant supports high-impact clinical research and scientific pilot studies that will ultimately improve the lives of patients with myasthenia gravis and related neuromuscular junction disorders. MGFA funds highly meritorious projects with a maximum of $110,000, over two years. The RFA is open to established and new investigators. Applications in all areas of MG research are accepted from U.S. and international principal investigators. More details about this grant are available in ProposalCentral. 

For those invited to submit a proposal: All components must be submitted via MGFA’s grants portal, ProposalCentral, no later than June 1, 2023. A preliminary review to assure compliance with guidelines will be performed, followed by scientific review. Funding notification is expected by August 2023 and funds provided by September 2023.  

KEY DATES 

Contacts for Questions 

For technical inquiries such as system access or site navigation related to ProposalCentral, please email pcsupport@altum.com or call 1-800-875-2562 (toll-free US and Canada) or +1-703-964.5840 (Direct Dial International).  

More information about how to register and apply using ProposalCentral:  

• How to Register as a ProposalCentral user 
• How to Create an Application using ProposalCentral 
• User FAQs.pdf (proposalcentral.com) 

For all other questions, please email MGFA@myasthenia.org.  

MGFA Research Grant Agenda and Funding Areas

We support research that will improve the lives of patients with myasthenia gravis and related neuromuscular junction disorders. The committee has identified five broad research priorities:

• Biomarkers: facilitate early diagnosis, predict clinical outcomes and immunosuppressive therapy response and utilize in clinical trials.
• Disease Mechanisms: understand basic mechanisms and self-tolerance loss throughout course of disease.
• Targeted Therapies: develop new therapeutic targets, prevent widespread immunosuppression and off-target side effects, optimize treatment strategies with existing therapies. 
• Patient Outcomes: understand the full impact of disease on daily living and patient treatment priorities, understand collateral effects of disease; related medical conditions, side effects and financial impact.
• Pediatric Treatment: identify strategies, safety concerns, and long-term outcomes.

Funding areas include:

• High-Impact Pilot Project Awards: pilot studies leading to new federal, pharmaceutical or private foundation supported investigations
• Transformative Research Awards: focused, innovative investigations that are highly likely to produce fundamental alterations in understanding myasthenia gravis
• Targeted Research and Special Projects Awards: further greater understanding of MG and its impact on quality of life
• Awards to Engage and Support Young Investigators and Clinicians: recognize the importance of good clinical research and encourage young investigators’ involvement in clinical studies

View Past MGFA Research Grant Recipients here.