NIH awards 15 teams in challenge linking nutrition and autoimmune disease

The National Institutes of Health named 15 teams as winners of the NOURISH: Autoimmunity Challenge, awarding each team $10,000. Submissions explored dietary interventions, microbiome and multi-omic approaches, personalized nutrition, and community- and patient-centered research.

The National Institutes of Health announced 15 prize-winning teams in the Nutrition for Our Immune System Health (NOURISH): Autoimmunity Challenge. Each winning team received a $10,000 award. The competition sought feasible, scalable ideas to integrate diet and nutrition into autoimmune disease research. Organizers said entries came from researchers, clinicians, patients, caregivers, advocacy groups, and interdisciplinary teams and covered multiple scientific approaches. Key details: - Fifteen teams were named winners and each received a $10,000 cash prize through the NOURISH: Autoimmunity Challenge led by NIH's Office of Autoimmune Disease Research. - Winning submissions addressed dietary interventions; microbiome, immune system, and multi-omic approaches; personalized and data-driven predictive nutrition; and community- and patient-centered research frameworks. - The announcement notes autoimmune diseases affect more than 8% of the U.S. population, an estimated 23 to 50 million Americans. - NIH described the winners as offering thoughtful, scientifically rigorous, and patient-centered ideas across four thematic areas. - NIH posted a full list of winning submissions and honorable mentions on its website. Summary: The awards highlight proposals that aim to better understand how dietary interventions might influence autoimmune disease onset, progression, flares, and symptom management. Undetermined at this time.