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MGFA Research Grants and Funding Areas

With our grant program, the MGFA supports research that will improve the lives of those diagnosed with myasthenia gravis and related neuromuscular junction disorders.

Funding areas include:

  • High-Impact Pilot Projects: Pilot studies leading to new federal, pharmaceutical or private foundation supported investigations
  • Transformative Research: Focused, innovative investigations that are highly likely to produce fundamental alterations in understanding myasthenia gravis
  • Targeted Research and Special Projects: 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

Learn more about the research we have funded.

Funding Opportunities through the MGFA

High Impact Pilot Project Award 

OVERVIEW

This award supports research that will demonstrate proof-of-concept to support the feasibility of a paradigm shift, test a new research hypothesis, or otherwise advance the development of safe and effective treatments for myasthenia gravis. Proposals must include clear plans of investigation, well-defined deliverables, and metrics for determining the quality of those deliverables. Proposals should be within the scope of the MGFA’s research agenda.  

Though this research agenda intends to guide researchers towards topics that are viewed as critical to the advancement of MG research and treatment, the MGFA will accept proposals outside of these priority areas if the applicant demonstrates that work stemming from his or her proposal has the potential to impact the understanding or treatment of MG.

MGFA will fund highly meritorious projects with a maximum of $110,000, over two years, of which no more than $10,000 may be allocated to indirect costs. Special funding requests and/or changes to the award period must be approved prior to submission of proposal through the Letter of Intent. 

Award criteria and full application information can be found via the PDF below.

Download Grant Information

HOW TO APPLY

Applicants are asked to submit a letter of intent (LOI) by June 13, 2025, using the forms provided in MGFA’s grant portal, ProposalCentral. This form will be found by searching for Myasthenia Gravis Foundation of American under “Grant Opportunities.” (Note: You must create an account and log in to access and submit all forms.)

There, you will find additional documents and details regarding the application process. You will be informed by July 3, 2025, if you are invited to submit a full proposal. Those invited must submit full application materials by August 15, 2025, with funding notification expected by November and funds provided by December.

ELIGIBILITY

The RFA is open to established and new investigators with faculty status. Applications are open to investigators worldwide. Applications are not open to for-profit / business entities.

Submit an LOI

Clinician Scientist Development Award in Myasthenia Gravis

OVERVIEW

The Clinician Scientist Development Award in Myasthenia Gravis, funded by the MGFA and the American Brain Foundation in collaboration with the American Academy of Neurology, aims to recognize the importance of rigorous clinical and translational research and to encourage young investigators in clinical and translational studies related to myasthenia gravis.

This award will consist of a commitment of $75,000 per year for three years, plus a $5,000 per-year stipend to support education and research-related costs, for a total of $240,000. Supplementation of the award with other grants is permissible, but to be eligible to apply for this award, the other grant source(s) cannot exceed $80,000 annually.

Award criteria and full application information can be found via the PDF below.

Download Grant Information

HOW TO APPLY

  1. Visit AAN.com/view/ResearchProgram
  2. Go to “Clinician Scientist Development Award”
  3. Select “Apply now”

Applications will be accepted June 2, 2025 through September 9, 2025. Please only submit one application – applicants are not allowed to submit applications for more than one award.

Visit the Frequently Asked Questions portion of the website for more information.

IMPORTANT DATES

September 9, 2025: Application deadline – Note that this is the deadline for all documents, including those from the mentor and chair. Applications will be declined if this information is not submitted by September 9.

January 2026: Notification of recipients

July 1, 2026: Funding begins

The MGFA Medical and Scientific Advisory Council 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.

Nancy Law Impact Award

OVERVIEW

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. 

The Nancy Law Impact Award supports high-impact clinical research or scientific investigations that are focused and innovative. High-impact clinical research proposals should focus on patient outcome measurements or alteration in clinical or research practices which improve present treatment paradigms. Scientific projects require a clear plan that will lead to new competitive federal or private foundation supported investigations.

In the 2024 grant cycle, MGFA funded this award at $300,000 over three years.

Jackie McSpadden Post-Doctoral Fellowship Award

OVERVIEW

The MGFA Jackie McSpadden Post-Doctoral Fellowship Award was established in 2022 to support a postdoctoral investigator conducting translational research related to myasthenia gravis. The fellowship grant is offered to promising recipients of MD, PhD or MD/PhD degrees when it appears that the program of training to be supported by the grant will enhance the likelihood that the trainee will perform meaningful and independent research relevant to MG in the future and obtain a suitable position that will enable them to do so. This award is named for Jackie McSpadden as a posthumous memorial to her fighting spirit in the face of her myasthenia gravis diagnosis.

Read about the inaugural McSpadden Fellow on the MGFA blog.

MGFA Global MG Patient Registry Publication Award

OVERVIEW

Through this grant, MGFA funds highly meritorious projects that enable academic investigators to use patient-reported data in the MGFA Global MG Patient Registry.

Investigators must provide a study synopsis to evaluate MGFA Global MG Patient Registry data, with the goal of generating a total of up to 6 tables, listings, and figures (TLFs). The researcher will work with MGFA Global MG Patient Registry host, Alira Health, who will perform the actual retrospective data extraction and generation of TLFs under the guidance of the researcher.

The pass-through cost of this data extraction and generation, up to $10,000, is covered via this grant. Results generated, including up to 6 populated TLFs, will be used by the researcher for the submission of abstracts to academic meetings, for selection as poster or oral presentation, with the ultimate goal of acceptance of manuscript(s) for publication.  

HOW TO APPLY

Applications for the latest grant cycle are closed.

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:  

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

External Research Grants 

Eppendorf & Science Prize for Neurobiology

The annual Eppendorf & Science Prize for Neurobiology is an international prize which honors young scientists for outstanding neurobiological research based on methods of molecular, cellular, systems, or organismic biology. Researchers who are not older than 35 years are invited to apply.

The Grand Prize Winner receives:

• Prize money of US$25,000
• Publication in Science of an essay by the winner about his/her research
• Full support to attend the Prize Ceremony held in conjunction with the Annual Meeting of the Society for Neuroscience in the USA
• 10-year AAAS membership and online subscription to Science
• Complimentary products worth US$1,000 from Eppendorf
• An invitation to visit Eppendorf in Hamburg, Germany

Deadline for submission: June 15, 2025

More Information

Myasthenia Gravis Rare Disease Network

The Myasthenia Gravis Rare Disease Network, MGNet, part of the National Institutes of Health’s Rare Diseases Clinical Research Network, has funding opportunities available for MG researchers.

Myasthenia Gravis Network (MGNet) Scholar Program

Pilot Grant Program for Myasthenia Gravis

Scholar Program: $100,000

The Scholar Program provides one year of support for mentored research training to prepare Scholars for an independent research career in the field of myasthenia gravis. Selected Scholars receive up to $100,000 to support salary, research costs, and didactics, with potential for renewal. An additional $3,000 is provided to travel to MGNet sites for training and or to attend scientific meetings to present the results of research.

Applications for the 2024 grant cycle are now closed. Information about next year’s grant availability will be shared when available.

Pilot Program: $75,000

The Pilot Grant Program will provide up to two years of funding $75,000 per year to support clinical research dedicated to myasthenia gravis. We are seeking proposals for highly innovative investigations in early stages of development focused on clinical research, including fulfilling the definition of clinical research and exclusion of animal studies. More information will be provided on the 2024/2025 grant cycle when available.

Pilot and Feasibility Grants | The Myasthenia Gravis Rare Disease Network (rarediseasesnetwork.org)