The Scleroderma Research Foundation (SRF) is proud to announce that systemic sclerosis (scleroderma) has been selected for inclusion in the expanded Accelerating Medicines Partnership® Autoimmune and Immune-Mediated Diseases (AMP® AIM) program—an important milestone that will accelerate research into the biological mechanisms driving this complex disease.
Managed by the Foundation for the National Institutes of Health (FNIH), AMP AIM is a public-private partnership that brings together the NIH, life sciences companies, academic investigators, foundations, and patient advocacy organizations to better understand the molecular and cellular mechanisms underlying autoimmune diseases. The program applies state-of-the-art technologies to create detailed cellular maps of disease, helping researchers identify new therapeutic targets and pave the way for more precise, personalized treatments.
The expansion builds on the success of the original AMP AIM initiative, adding scleroderma to a research portfolio that includes rheumatoid arthritis, lupus, Sjögren’s disease, and psoriatic diseases. By studying these conditions together, investigators can better understand both the shared and disease-specific biological pathways that drive autoimmunity.
As announced Monday, 7/13 by the FNIH, the expanded initiative reflects a growing commitment across public, private, academic, and patient communities to accelerate progress in autoimmune disease research. More than $9 million in new funding has been committed to support the expansion, bringing the program’s total investment to more than $70 million.
The SRF’s Leadership Role
The inclusion of scleroderma in AMP AIM represents years of strategic leadership by the SRF to ensure that patients with systemic sclerosis would benefit from one of the world’s most ambitious collaborative research efforts. The SRF worked closely with scientific leaders and partner organizations to develop the proposal supporting scleroderma’s inclusion and is proud to serve on the AMP AIM Steering Committee.
“This collaboration represents an important opportunity to deepen our understanding of scleroderma through a coordinated, large-scale research effort. By bringing together diverse expertise, data, and technologies, AMP AIM will enable disease-specific insights while also allowing scleroderma to be studied alongside other autoimmune diseases in ways that can reveal both shared and unique biological mechanisms. The Scleroderma Research Foundation is proud to have helped bring scleroderma into this important initiative, ensuring that our community benefits from—and contributes to—one of the leading collaborative efforts to advance autoimmune disease research,” — Deann Wright, JD, Chair, SRF Research Committee
Through this collaboration, researchers across leading institutions will study patient tissues using advanced single-cell and spatial biology technologies to better understand how immune dysfunction, vascular injury, and fibrosis interact to drive systemic sclerosis. These insights are expected to identify new biomarkers, reveal promising therapeutic targets, and improve our ability to develop more effective treatments.
For the SRF, participation in AMP AIM represents another important step toward achieving its mission of accelerating the discovery of better treatments—and ultimately, a cure—for scleroderma.
This milestone also reflects the SRF’s longstanding commitment to investing in collaborative, high-impact research initiatives that no single institution could accomplish alone. By bringing together experts across disciplines and sharing data openly, AMP AIM has the potential to transform our understanding of systemic sclerosis and speed the development of the next generation of therapies.
The SRF looks forward to working alongside its partners as this groundbreaking initiative advances and will continue to share updates as new discoveries emerge.
