Translational Bridge Award Grant

Translational Bridge Award Grant

Status: ACTIVE
Funder: Lupus Research Alliance Inc
Amount: Up to US $450,000
Last Updated: November 04, 2025

Summary

The Translational Bridge Award, offered by the Lupus Research Alliance, provides up to $450,000 over two years to support projects that bridge the gap between post-discovery and pre-commercial development. This funding aims to accelerate the translation of promising lupus research into clinical evaluation and viable products. Applicants must have a doctoral degree and prior LRA funding experience. The program fosters innovation and aims to improve care for lupus patients by facilitating milestone-driven research and commercialization efforts.

Overview

NOTE: Applicants are encouraged to consult with LRA scientific staff to discuss the responsiveness of their proposal to this program.Full Application by invitation only with an approved LOI. The date is approximate and will be communicated at the time of LOI decision. Applications must be submitted electronically, via ProposalCentral, by 11:59pm US ET on the stated deadline. The full application site will only be accessible to applicants with approved LOIs. Mission Statement The Lupus Research Alliance unites the global lupus community in bold determination to free the world of lupus through the power of science. We will transform the lives of people affected by lupus as we welcome and embrace a new scientific era; pioneer innovation; push the frontiers of knowledge; enlist diverse, new scientific talent; and lead the drive to new treatments, prevention and a cure. Translational Bridge Award Background The LRA established the Translational Bridge Award (TBA) to provide a dedicated funding mechanism to bridge the gap between post-discovery and pre-commercial development and to accelerate the pace at which promising LRA-funded foundational research discoveries are translated into clinical evaluation and transitioned to a viable product that impacts patients directly. Program Description The Translational Bridge Award provides up to $450,000 over two years for milestone- driven projects with strong, relatively near-term commercialization potential or with an immediate opportunity for clinical evaluation. All projects should advance the discovery of potential commercial entities or clinical products with a clear and direct relevance to people with lupus and offer the potential to improve diagnosis or standard of care for the disease or usher in a cure. These can include a range of technologies, therapies, interventions, and diagnostics. Proposals should be centered around a well-defined bridge plan of translating the discovery and/or advancing the entity or product to the next development stage. This bridge plan should consider the scientific, clinical, business and/or commercialization objectives. Project Objectives Proposals should include milestone-driven projects with clear objectives, well-defined on the translational, clinical or drug/diagnostic development path, with relatively near-term commercialization potential. Two main types of projects will be considered: Projects that aim to establish a robust data validation package, including pre-clinical or pilot clinical studies, to advance the discovery of a potential entity or product by enabling translational inflection points such as securing/bolstering of intellectual property, securing additional venture capital for a start-up company, obtaining clinical proof-of-concept, etc.Ancillary projects to ongoing or recently completed clinical trials for further analysis on a potential entity or product, or other defined study components (such as associated biomarkers). Scientific project objectives should be aimed at: Late-stage evaluation or validation (no foundational discovery research) of the proposed entity or product, including, but not limited to, clinical proof of concept, projects that aim to scale up previous results, move to a more relevant testing system or population, compound screening, chemical fine-tuning, pharmacological evaluations, and/or sensitivity/specificity testing.Clinical trial ancillary projects can also include experimentation aimed at further understanding the mechanism of action or pharmacodynamics of the entity or product, molecular effects and/or companion biomarkers. Proposals can include multiple scientific and/or clinical objectives. Other objectives not mentioned here may be appropriate, and we recommend you contact LRA scientific staff to consult on this topic. The proposal should also include a description of the legal, regulatory, business and/or commercialization objective(s) of the project, such as, but not limited to, generating data that would support: Creating or strengthening an intellectual property position.Launching a commercial enterprise, such as a start-up company, around the entity or product.Raising industry interest around the entity or product, including initiating a clinical investigation.Forging a commercial partnershipSecuring additional rounds of financial backing or funding.

Eligibility

You can learn more about this opportunity by visiting the funder's website. Applicants must have a doctoral degree (MD, PhD, DO, or equivalent), holding a faculty, or equivalent, position and leading an independent research team at an academic, nonprofit, or government research institution. Applicants must have previously received LRA funding or were affiliated with a previously funded LRA award and have completed or will complete the award term, inclusive of any no-cost extensions, between time frame specified in RFA. There are no citizenship requirements for investigators applying to this program.Only one LOI will be accepted per applicant in a grant cycle.Grant recipients must attend and present at Forum for Discovery, the LRA annual scientific conference, each year. Travel funds (up to $2,000 per year) provided by the grant must be used to pay for travel expenses related to attending Forum for Discovery meetings.

Ineligibility

Current LRA funded investigators whose awards will be completed after time specified in RFA are not eligible to apply.US federal government research laboratories are not eligible for this award.The same research project may not be submitted for consideration to multiple LRA grant mechanisms in the same year.