The Lupus Research Institute has announced a new initiative designed to foster pioneering research that leads to the discovery of the fundamental root causes of lupus and, eventually, a cure.

Funded by an $8 million grant from Bloomberg Philanthropies, the Distinguished Innovators program aims to attract the world's leading researchers and promote cross-disciplinary interactions among immunologists, geneticists, and cell, molecular, and systems biologists to spur development of drugs that address root causes of and help reverse the disease.

In its initial phase, the program will award $1 million grants for transformative large-scale projects that explore uncharted territory that could lead to the discovery of the primary factors causing lupus, with the ultimate goal of attaining prolonged drug-free remission and a cure. LRI will approach other major donors for support for the program and to help build a critical mass of outstanding interactive investigators who are committed to the long-term pursuit of a cure.

Lupus is a chronic autoimmune disease that affects more than 1.5 million Americans, more than 90 percent of whom are women — mostly between the ages of 15 and 44. In lupus, the immune system, which is designed to protect against infection, instead creates antibodies that attack the body's own tissues, organs, and joints.

"If we can get to the fundamental causes, we can get to the cure," said LRI president Margaret Dowd. "The extremely generous grant from Bloomberg Philanthropies allows us to give the world's leading scientists significant resources and freedom to explore entirely new directions in lupus research over several years. A decade of documented success powered by novel, high-risk, high-reward innovative research has given us the basis to push even further with this bold initiative."