Lipedema Foundation: Mentored Award Grant

The Lipedema Foundation's Mentored Award supports postdoctoral research training for PhD candidates and clinicians, aiming to improve understanding and treatment of Lipedema, a chronic condition affecting mainly women. With over $12.9 million awarded since 2015, the foundation seeks innovative proposals addressing diagnosis, treatment, and care. This global call welcomes diverse research teams, encouraging high-impact exploratory studies that contribute to the Lipedema Research Roadmap and utilize biosamples for genomics and hypothesis testing.

Mentored Award - Designed to support postdoctoral research experiences for candidates in non-independent mentored research training. Intended to support PhD (or equivalent research degrees) and clinicians engaged in mentored medical research.
Introduction
The Lipedema Foundation (LF) Award Program was established in 2015 to support research aimed at improving the lives of people with Lipedema. LF is the world’s largest sponsor of Lipedema research and other fat disorders research, having awarded over $12.9 million across more than 62 research awards on topics relevant to patient needs, including etiology, pathogenesis, models, and diagnostic approaches.
These investigator-initiated awards are intended to solicit proposals that, if successful, will lead to significant advances in the diagnosis or treatment of Lipedema.
LF aims to expand the workforce of dedicated scientists and clinicians interested in bringing their skills to solve issues related to this condition. This call for proposals is soliciting high-impact exploratory research from teams of scientists, clinicians, and surgeons worldwide, regardless of Lipedema-specific training or prior experience in the Lipedema field. Preliminary data, while encouraged, is not required for a submission.
Background
Lipedema is a chronic condition that occurs almost exclusively in women and manifests as a symmetrical buildup of painful fat and swelling in the limbs, sparing the hands and feet.
Different from obesity, Lipedema may be associated with reduced risk of metabolic syndrome and is often resistant to dietary or exercise-based interventions.
A critical issue is the poorly understood disease biology, which for diagnosed patients results in limited treatment options that, at best, ameliorate the symptoms of Lipedema. Individuals who suffer from the disease are further impacted by the absence of diagnostic tools, as well as conflicting diagnostic practices across practitioners. Lipedema is under-diagnosed, owing to a lack of public and medical awareness of Lipedema itself, the stigma associated with excess weight, and the lack of a diagnostic test and reliance on clinical diagnosis.
Its prevalence is poorly understood, and little is known about genetic or other risk factors. Patient experiences with Lipedema suggest that the condition negatively impacts their lives over many years, and in ways that may be distinct from other related conditions. Data from the Lipedema Foundation Registry offer a patient perspective on issues related to diagnosis, staging, genetics, and quality of life, and suggest testable hypotheses to guide future research. Likewise, LF has mapped out next steps in Lipedema Research with input from the Lipedema Field in our Lipedema Research Roadmap.
Blood Collection Request
For projects involving human participants - biosample collections (blood, saliva, etc.) are encouraged. Where possible, the samples will be housed in the LF Biorepository for genomics, future exploratory analyses, and hypothesis testing. Logistics will be solidified during contracting.
Specific Areas of Interest
In the current cycle, the Foundation will continue to prioritize awards that are oriented towards advancing Lipedema research, treatments, and care for individuals with Lipedema. All ideas are welcome, especially those that address the highest priority recommendations from the Lipedema Research Roadmap. You will be requested to indicate which areas of the roadmap your proposal addresses in the LOI submission.
Areas of particular interest are model systems, hormone/endocrine biology, and high throughput screening approaches. Proposals to create clinically relevant animal models should clearly justify the relationship of the proposed model to current understanding of Lipedema pathology and etiology.
Use of Artificial Intelligence (AI)
LF is open to the use of AI to enhance your work.
Applicant AI Use
Applicants may use AI tools (e.g., large language models) for this RFP. However, all use of AI, and details about how it was used, must be disclosed in the LOI and Full Application stages. This includes any images or text created by AI.Example: GPT-4 was used to refine the specific aims and conclusions. The use of AI in the LOI and/or Full Application stages does not influence scoring.
LF AI Use
Grants and applications are considered confidential. Therefore, LF will not analyze any submissions using any AI tool. We may use AI to summarize reviewer comments; however, individual grants will not be put into any AI models.All submission reviews and readings will be done by LF staff and peer reviewers. Ultimately, the decision rests with LF for LOI follow-up calls and final funding decisions.
Additional Information
AI is generally a public forum, and your ideas are not confidential if using AI. Please enter any proprietary or confidential information into AI/LLM tools with caution and in compliance with your institution’s privacy rules. It is recommended to turn off settings “sharing” or “adding to the model” to avoid disclosing confidential information.The accuracy of submissions and legal ownership of Intellectual Property (IP) are the responsibility of the applicant. We are not responsible for funding someone else's IP. Applicants ensure they own the rights to all IP they have disclosed in AI.

Eligibility

Principal InvestigatorPrincipal Investigators must be associated with a research institution and in good standing with that institution. The Investigators must be permitted by their employers to apply for this funding and manage any subsequent awards, including management of key personnel. Principal Investigators must hold an independent position by the time of the anticipated project start date. Postdoctoral students, including clinical fellows, may submit applications for research support through the Mentored Award program. Candidates should have received their doctoral degree or completed their residency within 5 years of application submission.Other trainees including undergraduate, graduate, or postdoctoral students who do not meet the above criteria may be supported as key personnel but cannot be designated Principal Investigator.InstitutionPublic, private, and government-held research laboratories, medical centers, and universities are eligible to apply.This request has a global scope. There are no citizenship requirements.

Ineligibility

The Lipedema Foundation will not accept applications from any Institution that is delinquent in reporting on any prior award.Proposals must not duplicate or overlap existing funding of the Lipedema Foundation or other funding sources.