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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.

Learn more about the MGFA’s research agenda.

Funding Opportunities through the MGFA

Myasthenia Gravis Foundation of America Government Funding Initiative

These are challenging times for those researching myasthenia gravis (MG) due to increasingly limited funding opportunities. Myasthenia Gravis Foundation of America (MGFA) recognizes this and appreciates the commitment of established and promising researchers with creative hypotheses and rigorous scientific methodology.

Therefore, the MGFA, its Board, Medical and Scientific Advisory Council, and supporters seek to fund highly scored, high-quality grant applications submitted to governmental agencies worldwide that are not funded.

MGFA does not intend to replace governmental funding. Instead, the MGFA wants to ensure strong MG research maintains its momentum during a period of unexpected change while reducing the burden of repeatedly adapting grants to new formats and requirements to adapt to that change.

To be eligible, applications must have been submitted, within the past 12 months, to the U.S. National Institutes of Health (NIH) or a similar agency abroad, received reviewer critiques, and scored in the top 25 percent or equivalent.

Applications must be submitted between September 2 – October 10, 2025 via Proposal Central. Funding dispersal begins January 15, 2026.

  1. Collaborations may span organizations, countries, disciplines, or partners outside academia. For-profit groups, such as pharmaceutical companies, are not eligible to apply for funding but may be a self-funded arm of the investigative team.
  2. MGFA values the contributions of dedicated trainees along with the need to train and retain talent. Awards given to principal investigators (PIs) may include appropriate-level trainees. However, the PI remains responsible for adapting to any changes in the available workforce and is expected to discuss workforce or any other changes that may affect the outcome of funded projects with the MGFA.
  3. Applications for fellowships or individual career development are not eligible.
  4. MGFA offers up to $100,000 to $500,000 per year for up to three years. Indirect costs must not exceed 10% in the application.
  5. The application must have been reviewed by an NIH study section or government equivalent on or after August 2024 to apply for MGFA funds through this initiative.
  6. Unfunded applications, those that received funding notification followed by declination, that scored at or above the 25th percentile or equivalent may be submitted through this mechanism.
  7. Submissions changed from their original peer-reviewed form, with critiques and scores for the full review, will not be accepted.
  8.  Submissions with incomplete or edited reviews will not be accepted.
  9.  The original application must clearly advance the MGFA’s vision of a world without myasthenia gravis. MGFA understands that parts of proposals submitted elsewhere may include interests other than MG. Address any concerns, change in plans, or proposed edits from the original submission in the single-page cover letter only.
  10. Since applications to this program have already been reviewed and scored, MGFA Research Committee members will focus on the following points:
    • Potential impact of your collaboration to advance research into the causes, prevention, progression, treatment, and/or inhibition of MG.
    • Potential of the institutions, human resources, methods and materials, as written, to achieve the stated goals.

HOW TO APPLY

Applications must be submitted via Proposal Central. For more information about this platform, including help registering an account, please see the end of this page.

Apply

VIRTUAL Q&A

For more information about the grant opportunity, join us for one of two virtual Q&As.


Monday, September 8, 2025
9:00 AM Eastern Time (US and Canada)
Join Zoom Meeting

Meeting ID: 863 5309 1700
Passcode: 787214

One tap mobile
+13462487799,,86353091700# US (Houston)
+12532050468,,86353091700# US


Tuesday, September 9, 2025
11:00 AM Eastern Time (US and Canada)
Join Zoom Meeting

Meeting ID: 872 5330 6378
Passcode: 195033

One tap mobile
+13462487799,,87253306378# US (Houston)
+16694449171,,87253306378# US

IMPORTANT DATES

September 8 and 9, 2025: Virtual Q&A – Ask the MGFA Research Department questions about this opportunity (Zoom info above)
September 2 – October 10, 2025: Submission Period
November 14, 2025: Finalists Notified
November 19-21 & 24-25 2025: Virtual Review Meetings w/ 4-6 Finalists
December 19, 2025: Notification of Recipients
January 15, 2026: Funding Start Date

CONTACTS

Clinician Scientist Development Award in Myasthenia Gravis

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

High Impact Pilot Project Award 

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.

MGFA is no longer accepting LOIs for the 2025 award.

Applicants are highly encouraged to submit proposals within the scope of the This research agenda intends to guide researchers towards topics that are viewed as critical to the advancement of MG research and treatment. However, 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 funds 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

MGFA is no longer accepting LOIs for the 2025 award. Those selected to submit a full proposal have been informed of this decision; proposals were due August 15, 2025. We expect to share funding notification by November and provide funds by December. MGFA uses Proposal Central for all grant application submissions.

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.

Nancy Law Impact Award

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

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

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, 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.  

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

Applications for the 2025 grant cycle are now closed. Information about next year’s grant availability will be shared when available.

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. More information will be provided on the next grant cycle when available.

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.

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.

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