As we enter 2026 with momentum, I’m deeply proud of the many achievements we’ve made over the past year, thanks to this extraordinary community—and profoundly grateful for the trust you place in our work.
When the year began, a series of actions and spending cuts aimed at the National Institutes of Health and research-based universities threatened the foundation of scientific progress, and a path forward became less certain for institutions and investigators alike.
Even in that environment, one thing never wavered: our commitment to advancing scleroderma research. Thanks to you, the SRF was able to move forward with clarity and conviction—investing $8.1M in expert-led research and continuing to advance studies that are deepening and broadening our understanding of this complex disease.
Your commitment also powered meaningful growth across the SRF’s largest initiatives. CONQUEST, our platform clinical trial, is now open at more than 120 sites worldwide, allowing multiple treatments to be tested at once with shared infrastructure and a single placebo group, dramatically accelerating progress. Meanwhile, CONQUER, our longitudinal registry, expanded to more than 1,300 participants across 19 sites, producing robust, long-term data that has already supported eight published manuscripts and is increasingly shaping industry innovation.
This sustained momentum also positioned the SRF to seize an important new opportunity. In 2025, we became a Strategic Collaborator in Vie Ventures, joining other leading autoimmune organizations in harnessing the power of venture capital to accelerate therapeutic development, and elevate scleroderma’s visibility within the biotech sector.
Throughout the year, our progress remained grounded in the people it exists to serve. Nearly 100 members of the scleroderma community entrusted us to share their personal stories with the world and serve as a powerful reminder that every scientific milestone carries real meaning for individuals and families.
We also made your feedback a priority and turned it into action. The result was a meaningful expansion of resources—from awareness-month toolkits and enhanced guidance on nutrition and interstitial lung disease, to stronger educational programs which culminated in our largest and globally attended virtual Patient Forum to date.
No matter what challenges lie ahead, our team at the SRF remains steadfast in our mission to end scleroderma. Every achievement reflects your belief in research and your commitment to this community. Because of you, we can continue to go all-in on what matters most: real progress toward a cure.
With gratitude,
Joanne Gold
Executive Director
