Apply For Funding

Purpose: To foster an interest among students in the areas of basic, clinical, translational, epidemiological, or behavioral research relevant to lupus. Students must work under the sponsorship and supervision of an established, promotion ladder faculty principal investigator who engages in clinical research or who directs a laboratory that is dedicated at least in part to the investigation of lupus at an academic, medical, or a research institution. The institution must be in the U.S., Canada, or Mexico.

• Five awards of $4,000.00 USD each
• All applicants must submit their full application packages through the ProposalCentral online grants management system. Visit ProposalCentral to create an account and complete the application.
• Hard copies of applications will not be accepted.
• Application deadline: January 16, 2026
• Earliest award notification date: March 30, 2026

For full eligibility and application requirements, see the 2026 RFA.

Purpose: To facilitate the professional career development of rheumatology, nephrology, and dermatology fellows as well as postdoctoral fellows who are conducting lupus research in the U.S. and Canada.  Applicants should be dedicated to developing a career as an independent scientist at an academic, medical, or research institution with a primary focus on lupus investigation.

• Two awards of up to $70,000 USD per year for up to two years.
• All applicants must submit their full application packages through the ProposalCentral online grants management system. Visit ProposalCentral to create an account and complete the application.
• Hard copies of applications will not be accepted.
• Application deadline: January 16, 2026
• Earliest award notification date: March 30, 2026

For full eligibility and application requirements, see the 2026 RFA.

Purpose: The Pediatric Lupus Research Grant is intended to provide pilot funding for a new project or research idea focused on pediatric systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE). This grant provides support to investigators to initiate new research ideas and projects and is intended to complement rather than compete with traditional sources of funding.

One award for up to $45,000.00 USD

All applicants must submit their full application packages through the ProposalCentral online grants management system. Visit ProposalCentral to create an account and complete the application.

Hard copies of applications will not be accepted.

Application deadline: January 16, 2026

Earliest award notification date: March 30, 2026

For full eligibility and application requirements, see the 2026 RFA.

The Catalyst Grant, funded by Lupus Canada with administrative support from the Lupus Foundation of America, is intended to help kickstart a new project or research idea focused on discoid or systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE). This grant provides support to Canadian investigators to initiate new research ideas and projects and is intended to complement rather than compete with traditional sources of funding such as the Canadian federal granting agencies (CIHR, SSHRC, NSERC).

• One Catalyst Grant for a total of $75,000.00 CAD to fund one project for a term of one year.
• All applicants and co-applicants must hold an academic appointment at a Canadian university, teaching hospital or similarly accredited institution (i.e., an institution eligible to hold tri-council funding).
• Candidates in postdoctoral training are eligible to apply, but must have a Co-Principal applicant with an academic appointment in order to receive funds at their institution.
• All applicants must be Canadian citizens or permanent residents. Collaborators may be from outside of Canada, however no funds from Lupus Canada may be transferred outside of the country.
• Principal Investigators are permitted to submit up to a maximum of one application per competition.
• A Principal Investigator may be awarded a Lupus Canada-funded Catalyst Grant only once during the last two competitions, but may participate in applications as collaborators and co-applicants.
• All applicants must submit their full application packages through the ProposalCentral online grants management system. Visit ProposalCentral to create an account and complete the application.
• Hard copies will not be accepted.
• Application deadline: January 16, 2026
• Earliest award notification date: March 30, 2026

For full eligibility and application requirements, see the 2026 RFA.

The Lupus Foundation of America established in 2005 the Evelyn V. Hess, MD, MACP, MACR Award to be given annually to a clinical or basic researcher whose body of work has significantly advanced understanding of the pathophysiology, etiology, epidemiology, diagnosis or treatment of lupus. This award was created to honor Dr. Hess' outstanding contributions to lupus research over the course of her long career.

Nominations for the 2025 Evelyn V. Hess, MD, MACP, MACR Award will be accepted through Friday, July 25, 2025. Please review the 2025 nomination guidelines here. 

Click here to access the nomination form.

Learn more about past award recipients here.

The Lupus Foundation of America established in 2009 the Mary Betty Stevens, MD, Young Investigator Prize to be given annually in recognition of the exceptional achievements of an investigator in the early part of their independent career in lupus research. This award was created to memorialize Dr. Stevens, who made exceptional contributions to lupus research starting from early on in her career.

Nominations for the 2025 Mary Betty Stevens, MD Young Investigator Prize will be accepted through Friday, July 25, 2025. Please review the 2025 nomination guidelines here. 

Click here to access the nomination form.

Learn more about past award recipients here.

Cynthia Aranow, MD, Chair
Feinstein Institutes for Medical Research, Manhasset, NY

Christie Bartels, MD, MS
University of Wisconsin Department of Medicine, Madison, WI

Joyce Chang, MD, MSCE
Boston Children’s Hospital, Boston, MA

Robert M. Clancy, PhD
New York University Medical Center, New York, NY

Cassandra Dolecki, PharmD, BCACP, TTS
Allegheny Health Network, Pittsburgh, PA

Ali Duarte-Garcia, MD, MSc
Mayo Clinic, Rochester, MN

Titilola Falasinnu, PhD, MHS
Stanford University School of Medicine, Stanford, CA

Andrea Fava, MD
Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD

Yevgeniya Gartshteyn, MD, MD
Columbia University Medical Center, New York, NY

Diane Kamen, MD, MSCR
Medical University of South Carolina, Charleston, SC

Mariana Kaplan, MD
National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD

Andrea Knight, MD, MSCE
The Hospital for Sick Children, Toronto, ON

Tamara Nowling, PhD
Medical University of South Carolina, Charleston, SC

Rosalind Ramsey, Goldman, MD
Northwestern University School of Medicine, Chicago, IL

Brad Rovin, MD, FACP, FASN
Ohio State University Medical Center, Columbus, OH

Tamar Rubinstein, MD
The Children’s Hospital at Montefiore Einstein, Bronx, NY

Laura Schanberg, MD
Duke University School of Medicine, Durham, NC

Zahi Touma, MD, PhD
University Health Network, Toronto, ON

Betty Tsao, PhD
Medical University of South Carolina, Charleston, SC

George Tsokos, MD
Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Boston, MA

Victoria P. Werth, MD
University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine, Philadelphia, PA

Jessica Williams, MD
Washington University Medicine, St. Louis, MO

Jinoos Yazdany, MD, MPH
University of California, San Francisco, San Francisco, CA

Anca Askanase, MD, Chair
Columbia University Irving Medical Center, New York, NY

Christie Bartels, MD, MS
University of Wisconsin Department of Medicine, Madison, WI

Kevin Deane, MD
University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus, Aurora, CO

Diane Kamen, MD, MSCR
Medical University of South Carolina, Charleston, SC 

Timothy Niewold, MD, FACR
The Hospital for Special Surgery, New York, NY

Nancy Olsen, MD
Hershey Medical Center - Pennsylvania State University, Hershey, PA

Zahi Touma, MD, PhD
University of Toronto, Toronto, ON

Jinoos Yazdany, MD, MPH
University of California, San Francisco, San Francisco, CA