Development Office Funding Opportunities

•Only collaborative projects will be considered.
•Collaborative projects for this call comprise groups of 3-5 laboratories working around a common theme or target.
•Principal Investigators should be at the career level of an independent faculty member who leads an independent lab or industry equivalent.
•Research assistant professors, post-doctoral fellows, and staff are not eligible to be included as investigators.
•We encourage each consortium to include at least one Principal Investigator from the biotech/pharmaceutical industry.
•A Principal Investigator can only participate in one LOI submission.
•Principal Investigators who have two or more active competitive grants from Target ALS are not eligible to apply.

•The principal investigator must be professionally trained with a terminal degree—MD, MD/PhD, PhD, or equivalent. TMA research grants are designed to support applicants based at an accredited medical school, university, or research institute.

•TMA fellowships are designed to support early-career physicians, scientists, and investigators who have a career interest in research and/or a clinical practice focused on rare autoimmune disease, hold a terminal degree (MD, MD/PhD, PhD, or equivalent), and are enrolled in a formal fellowship program with a myositis experienced mentor. Eligibility extends to residents planning to enroll in a formal fellowship program with a myositis experienced mentor, or fellows interested in an advanced fellowship with a myositis experienced mentor. Mentors will be required to provide a letter of support affirming their involvement and approval.

•Applications will be evaluated primarily based upon relevance to myositis, alignment to this RFP, scientific quality, and feasibility. Additional criteria are innovation, collaboration, and patient centricity.

•The principal investigator must be professionally trained with a terminal degree—MD, MD/PhD, PhD, or equivalent—and striving to improve understanding of and quality of life for those who live with myositis, related diseases, and complications.
Applicants must demonstrate a career interest in research and clinical practice focused on rare autoimmune diseases, especially myositis.

•Applications will be evaluated primarily based upon relevance to myositis, alignment to this RFP, scientific quality, and feasibility. Additional criteria are innovation, collaboration, and patient centricity.

•TMA fellowships are designed to support early-career physicians, scientists, and investigators who have a career interest in research and/or clinical practice focused on rare autoimmune disease; hold a terminal degree (MD, MD/PhD, PhD, or equivalent); and are enrolled in a formal fellowship program with a myositis experienced mentor. Eligibility extends to residents planning to enroll in a formal fellowship program with a myositis experienced mentor, or fellows interested in an advanced fellowship with a myositis experienced mentor. Mentors will be required to provide a letter of support affirming their involvement and approval.

•Applications will be evaluated primarily based upon relevance to myositis, alignment to this RFP, scientific quality, and feasibility. Additional criteria are innovation, collaboration, and patient centricity.

•There’s no age limit to apply, but preference will be given to those under the age of 45 as of August 30, 2026, with a rank of instructor up through associate professor (or the institutional equivalent).

•First preference will be given to those working in a department or division of dermatology, and second preference to those with a close working relationship to dermatology.

•If an MD, the candidate must be board-certified in dermatology with at least 3 years of in-depth experience in investigative dermatology.

•If a PhD, the candidate must have at least 3years of postdoctoral or faculty-level experience in investigative dermatology.

•The candidate must be identified as a current or future leader in dermatological investigation and must spend at least 80% of his/her professional time in research.

•There’s no age limit to apply, but preference will be given to those under the age of 45 as of August 30, 2026, with a rank of instructor up through associate professor (or the institutional equivalent).

•First preference will be given to those working in a department or division of dermatology, and second preference to those with a close working relationship to dermatology.

•If an MD, the candidate must be board-certified in dermatology with at least 3 years of in-depth experience in investigative dermatology.

•If a PhD, the candidate must have at least 3 years of postdoctoral or faculty-level experience in investigative dermatology.

•The candidate must be identified as a current or future leader in dermatological investigation and must spend at least 80% of his/her professional time in research.