Autoimmunity Centers of Excellence (ACE)

NIAID established the Autoimmunity Centers of Excellence (ACE) in 1999 to conduct collaborative basic and clinical research on autoimmune diseases. The ACE program enables close interaction between clinicians and basic researchers to accelerate the discovery, development, and translation of therapies for autoimmune diseases from the lab to use in the clinic. The program has been renewed multiple times, most recently in fiscal year 2024. 

Main Areas of Focus

  • To encourage and enable collaborative research – across scientific disciplines, across medical specialties, and between basic and clinical scientists – in the search for effective treatments for autoimmune diseases
  • To evaluate the safety and efficacy of treatment strategies for autoimmune diseases
  • To explore the immune mechanisms underlying efficacy of agents evaluated in these ACE clinical trials

Currently Funded Projects

The ACE program includes five U19 cooperative agreements supporting basic research and three UM1 cooperative agreements conducting clinical trials in autoimmune disease.

Basic Research Projects

A Mechanistic Understanding of B Cell and Macrophage Plasticity in Lupus Disease Activity States
Feinstein Institute for Medical Research
Principal Investigator: Anne Davidson and Betty Diamond
Award Number: U19AI144306

An Autoimmune Center of Excellence for the Study of IgG4-Related Disease
Massachusetts General Hospital
Principal Investigator: Shiv Subramaniam Pillai
Award Number: U19AI110495

Identifying New Immunotherapeutic Targets for Endocrine Autoimmunity
University of California, Los Angeles
Principal Investigator: Maureen A. Su
Award Number: U19AI181729

Immune Cells and Secretory Pathways Leading to Human Systemic Autoimmunity
Weill Medical College of Cornell University
Principal Investigator: Maria Virginia Pascual
Award Number: U19AI144301

Regulation of B cell Responses in SLE and Other Autoimmune Diseases
Emory University
Principal Investigator: Ignacio E. Sanz
Award Number: U19AI110483

Clinical Projects

Johns Hopkins Autoimmunity Center of Excellence
Johns Hopkins University
Principal Investigator: Julie Jisun Paik
Award Number: UM1AI181725

Oklahoma ACE: Molecular Destruction of Autoimmune Disease to Aid Clinical Trail Success
Oklahoma Medical Research Foundation
Principal Investigator: Judith A. James
Award Number: UM1AI144292

Targeting T Cell Subsets in Autoimmune Disease
Massachusetts General Hospital
Principal Investigator: John H. Stone
Award Number: UM1AI144295

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