LOIs for Muscular Dystrophy Research

Muscular Dsystrophy Association offers several grant opportunities for MS research and support. Funding categories include: Discovery Research: Discovery research includes the search for understanding the causes of disease, unraveling pathways involved in disease, identifying novel drug targets, and testing new strategies to treat disease. The goal for discovery research is to form a solid foundation that informs and accelerates all subsequent drug development. Since each rare disease poses unique challenges to therapy development, discovery research may include various types of studies related to the unmet needs of each disorder including the creation of improved disease models, biomarker discovery, and the identification of the genetic causes of disease, among others. LOI's Due for Research and Development Grants: December 15 (Spring Cycle), June 15 (Fall Cycle) Translational Research: MDA’s translational research program represents an innovative way to fund research that’s designed to move new drug targets into the clinic as rapidly and efficiently as possible. The program was developed in response to the increasing number of promising therapeutic avenues for neuromuscular diseases that have developed from MDA's discovery research program. LOIs due for MDA Venture Philanthropy (MVP) Program: Mar 1, Jun 1, Sep 1, Dec 1 Clinical Research: MDA’s clinical research program supports the continued development of exciting therapies in the pipeline, moving into testing in humans. This includes human clinical trials testing repurposed drugs and non-drug interventions, as well as clinical research studies that are non-interventional. As part of its clinical research program, MDA also supports clinician scientists in training, as well as clinical research networks and travel grants to help support the costs of study/trial participants' travel to and from clinical research sites. For more information on deadlines and how to apply, go to opportunity webpage. Infrastructure Grants: Infrastructure Grants are designed to support the development of tools, techniques and services of need to the neuromuscular research community. The main review criterion for this grant is need for the infrastructure to further research for the purpose of therapy development. Recipients of an MDA Infrastructure Grant must develop a plan to make this MDA-funded resource available to the research community and have a plan for sustaining the infrastructure beyond the period of MDA support. Letters of support from the community are an essential part of the application. LOIs are accepted on a rolling basis Conference Grants: MDA supports conferences, meetings, and workshops that facilitate the exchange of scientific ideas and crucial information relevant to diseases covered under the MDA umbrella. LOIs are accepted on a rolling basis See the MDA website for complete program guidelines, a list of currently funded projects, tips for crafting a successful proposal, and application instructions.