Developing an NIH-wide Strategic Plan for Autoimmune Disease Research
Autoimmune diseases can affect almost every organ in the body and can occur at any point across the lifespan. Many result in chronic and debilitating conditions, and some have no known cure. To accelerate progress in autoimmune disease research (ADR), the U.S. Congress directed NIH to establish an Office of Autoimmune Disease Research in the Office of Research on Women’s Health (OADR-ORWH).
A key initiative of OADR-ORWH is to develop an NIH-wide strategic plan for ADR. While various NIH institutes, centers, and offices (ICOs) support autoimmune disease research in alignment with their individual mission areas, by developing an NIH-wide strategic plan for ADR, OADR-ORWH will be able to amplify ICO efforts and advance opportunities for innovation.
In December 2023, OADR-ORWH released a Request for Information (NOT-OD-24-049) seeking public input on advancing ADR, which called for feedback on:
- Research areas that would benefit from cross-cutting, collaborative research
- Opportunities to advance collaborative, innovative, or interdisciplinary areas of ADR
- Opportunities to improve outcomes for individuals living with autoimmune diseases including NIH-designated health disparities populations, populations and individuals with rare diseases, and specific populations that have been historically underrepresented in research and clinical trials
- Cross-cutting areas that are integral to advancing ADR at NIH including development of a publicly accessible central repository for ADR
Input from the community will help shape the strategic plan and ultimately priority areas in the next phase of NIH-wide ADR. The comment period closed on March 1, 2024.