The Milken Institute Science Philanthropy Accelerator for Research and Collaboration (SPARC), in partnership with the Ann Theodore Foundation (ATF), has launched a new funding program to support a future clinical trial in cutaneous sarcoidosis. The program, ATF Sarcoidosis Inhibitor of mTOR (SIM), will award one two-year grant of up to US$575,000 to one or more independent biomedical researchers. The funding will support the awardee(s) in designing and conducting a Phase 2 investigator-initiated clinical trial that will assess whether a class of therapeutic called a mechanistic target of rapamycin (mTOR) inhibitor is effective in addressing cutaneous sarcoidosis.
ATF-SIM is the third sarcoidosis-related funding program that the Milken Institute and ATF have launched to support biomedical research focused on the condition. One of the partnership's major aims is to reverse a historical precedent of sparse funding for sarcoidosis research. A debilitating and sometimes fatal inflammatory condition, sarcoidosis is marked by abnormal clusters of immune cells in various organs. The skin is the second-most affected organ after the lungs and is involved in approximately one-quarter of sarcoidosis cases. Sarcoidosis of the skin, or cutaneous sarcoidosis, may involve painful rashes, skin lesions, and subcutaneous growths.
The purpose behind ATF-SIM's dedicated focus on evaluating a specific class of drug in a clinical trial is to validate the therapeutic's recent, preliminary promise in sarcoidosis, which lacks disease-modifying treatments. Currently, the only US Food and Drug Administration-approved pharmaceuticals that are commonly used to treat sarcoidosis are general anti-inflammatory medications that may mitigate symptoms but cannot address the disorder's underlying causes. However, a small 2024 clinical trial indicates that mTOR inhibitors, which target a specific sarcoidosis-related molecular pathway, may have a meaningful effect. Seven of the trial's 10 participants with cutaneous sarcoidosis experienced sustained symptom improvement after completing treatment with the mTOR inhibitor sirolimus, a medication already approved for use in other inflammatory conditions.
People living with sarcoidosis, which can be extremely painful and unpredictable, don't currently have the treatment options they deserve. In order to advance this potential treatment toward late-stage clinical trials and regulatory approval for use in cutaneous sarcoidosis, researchers must continue to show that an mTOR inhibitor has a significant effect in a new trial with more participants. We're thrilled to work with ATF to ensure that the field accomplishes that next step as soon as possible."
Melissa Stevens, executive vice president of strategic philanthropy, Milken Institute
Since 2020, the Milken Institute and ATF have launched two other funding programs, ATF-LOMAS (Learning Opportunities in Medicine and Sarcoidosis) and ATF-BSI (Breakthrough Sarcoidosis Initiative), the latter of which has committed over $11 million to sarcoidosis research to date. They have also published a Giving Smarter Guide that identifies strategic opportunities for philanthropic investment in sarcoidosis.
"At ATF, we believe that we owe it to the sarcoidosis community to support promising research directions across all stages of development, including this timely opportunity to accelerate a potential treatment in the near term," said Lisa Spalding, spokesperson for the Ann Theodore Foundation. "ATF-SIM augments-but does not supplant-our parallel efforts to support early-stage biomedical research and long-term scientific community-building through two other grant programs, which will reap benefits for decades to come. We must take every possible route to improving upon day-to-day symptom management in favor of long-term symptom relief."
The funding program is now accepting applications through Monday, April 20, 2026, at 11:59 pm Eastern Time, and grant awardee(s) will be selected in June 2026.
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