2021-22  

Quality of Life in Systemic Sclerosis and Raynaud’s  

The title of this call for grants is “Improving Quality of Life in Raynaud’s and Systemic Sclerosis" and is dedicated to investigators who hold faculty or equivalent positions wishing to pursue a career in research related to scleroderma.   

We are inviting proposals on studies which can improve QoL for those with Raynaud’s and systemic sclerosis. Applications may focus on areas such as early detection and diagnosis, precision medicine and potential treatments but applicants must consider how their proposal will drive improvements in QoL and how this could be measured through patient involvement during the project.   

Successful projects: 

• To be announced 

SRUK / MRC Jointly Funded Clinical Research Training Fellowship  

The SRUK-MRC Joint Fellowship has the potential to offer opportunities to support your project in areas such as project reporting, presenting your work at meetings as well as professional networking. All applicants are considered in open competition which ensures there will be no effect on the outcome of your application. The submission procedure and deadline are the same as the standard competition. 

We will consider high quality applications which will help deliver progress in one of the four key areas identified in our research strategy. These are early diagnosis, precision medicine, quality of life and understanding the cause. 

Successful applicant:  

• To be announced

2020-21 

SRUK / WSF Joint Grant Outcome Measures in Systemic Sclerosis  

The title of this call for grants is “Outcome Measures in Systemic Sclerosis" and is dedicated to investigators who hold faculty or equivalent positions and who wish to pursue a career in research related to scleroderma. This grant will support promising research that is likely to lead to individual research projects with the aim to foster also the entry of new investigators into this area of research. For this reason, SRUK and WSF together are launching this grant to support innovative research in this field of investigation and to enhance collaboration between two or more Scleroderma centres, one of which must be based in the UK, to advance significant research on the disease. The project must demonstrate the synergy and added value of proposed collaboration. 

We are inviting proposals on studies which focus on investigating outcome measures for systemic sclerosis. Outcome measures are a key aspect of management of the condition and further investigation will enable significant improvement in patient outcomes. 

Successful projects: 

• Validation of clinically and patient meaningful score values of ACR CRISS for diffuse cutaneous SSc 
• The CRISTAL Index: Developing a combined response index for scleroderma trials assessing limited cutaneous systemic sclerosis 

To read more about these projects, click here 

SRUK / EPSRC Hackathon for a Diagnostic Tool  

The ‘SRUK / EPSRC Hackathon’ was a three-day event held in February 2020 which brought together clinicians, bioengineers, data scientists and bioscientists from University and industry to produce ideas for new devices which could easily and objectively measure the skin to diagnose and monitor the effects of scleroderma. The modified Rodnan Skin Score (mRSS), the current method of measuring the skin, requires extensive training and due to the subjective nature of the test, can result in variability of results between clinicians. Projects which developed during the Hackathon event were invited to submit applications for funding. 

Successful projects:  

• Objective Assessment of Scleroderma Skin Tissues 
• A bio-inspired solution for a window into the culprit of disease (SCIDEX) 

To read more about these projects, click here 

2018-19 

2018 SRUK Open Grant Call 

An open grant call to the SRUK research community, which produced a diverse range of funding applications.  

Successful projects:  

• Elicitation of expert prior opinion for a future Bayesian randomised controlled trial for a rare inflammatory paediatric disease, juvenile localised scleroderma 
• Preclinical pathological signs of systemic sclerosis in Raynaud’s patients at risk of scleroderma 
• Using microneedle patches to administer novel anti-fibrotic peptides in order to treat scleroderma 
• Profiling of subpopulations of monocytes and monocyte-derived cells in scleroderma to identify targets for biomarker, patient stratification and therapy 

To read more about these projects, click here