IDF Research Grant Program

IDF Research Grant Program

Overview: The IDF Research Grant Program supports patient-oriented research projects that have a specified benefit for improving the treatment, health, disease management, or diagnosis of people with primary immunodeficiencies (PI).

Funder: Immune Deficiency Foundation (IDF), Hanover, Maryland

Geographic Scope: United States

Focus Areas:

Patient-oriented research on primary immunodeficiencies

Diagnosis and treatment of PI

Disease management for people with PI

Notable research topics include:

- Gut microbiome and inflammation in common variable immunodeficiency (CVID)
- Immune dysregulation measurement in PI
- Gene activity and genetic variants in PI
- T cell lymphopenia in infants
- Gene editing strategies for RAG-1 deficiency SCID and familial hemophagocytic lymphohistiocytosis (HLH)
- Discovery of new PI types and antiviral pathways

Award Amount: $25,000 - $50,000 over one year

Program History:

Program began in 2016

As of 2022, IDF has supported 24 research grants totaling more than $800,000

As of 2022, awards have totaled more than $650,000 in competitive seed grants

Notable Grant Outcomes:

Discovery of new PI type caused by variants in TLR8 (Dr. Megan A. Cooper, Washington University School of Medicine, 2018)

Understanding of interferon receptor gene variants and severe viral infections (Dr. Qian Zhang, Rockefeller University, 2020)

CRISPR-based gene editing strategies for RAG-1 deficiency SCID (Dr. Pietro Genovese, Dana Farber Cancer Institute, 2020)

Gene editing research for familial hemophagocytic lymphohistiocytosis (Dr. Michelle Hermiston, University of California, San Francisco, 2020)

Special Recognition:

Michael Blaese Research Grant Award - inaugural award given to highest-ranking grant applicant (named in honor of IDF's long-time medical advisor Dr. Michael Blaese)

Contact:
Immune Deficiency Foundation
7550 Teague Road, Suite 220
Hanover, Maryland 21076
P: 410-321-6647
Website: primaryimmune.org