At the core of LRI's scientific strategy is the belief that new ideas and original thinking will lead to advances in basic and clinical lupus research. Idea-driven science represents the route to desperately needed breakthroughs.

Accordingly, LRI grant applicants don't need extensive preliminary data to secure a Novel Research grant. This approach differs markedly from the requirements of NIH and other traditional funding agencies.

LRI's application review process remains extremely vigorous, however. Top lupus scientists from government and academia that sit on LRI's Peer Review Task Force for Novel Research evaluate applications, submit recommendations, and monitor works in progress.

Current task force co-chairs are Nicholas Chiorazzi, MD, director and CEO of the North Shore-Long Island Jewish Research Institute, and Mark Shlomchik, MD, PhD, Professor of Laboratory Medicine and Immunobiology at the Yale University School of Medicine.

See a full list of the Peer Review Task Force for Novel Research.

Goals

The Novel Research Program is designed to:

• Encourage high-risk, high-impact proposals leading to novel approaches
• Draw applications from established investigators from other disciplines who may approach lupus research from fresh angles
• Provide rapid peer review and funding of qualified projects
• Foster cross-disciplinary studies, especially to translate basic research into treatment
• Promote multi-center research consortia and private-public collaborations

Grants

85 grants have been awarded so far.