The Lupus Research Alliance has awarded more than $2 million to three research teams to study lifestyle-based approaches for people living with lupus, funding projects that range from dietary supplements to online whole-health programming and supervised home exercise.
Who’s funded and what they’ll study
Under the 2026 Mechanistic Clinical Award program, each of the three recipients may receive up to $750,000 over three years to investigate biological mechanisms by which non-pharmaceutical interventions could improve symptoms for people with lupus.
- Jason Knight, MD, PhD — Regents of the University of Michigan: will test whether ginger supplementation can lower harmful neutrophil activation in people with lupus by measuring immune cell activity and blood markers of inflammation.
- Jennifer Rogers, MD — Duke University: will evaluate a 12-week online programme called Whole Health Empowerment for Lupus (WHEEL) to see how it may reduce pain through changes in brain processing using brain imaging alongside clinical and patient-reported data.
- Jose Rubio, MD — University of Alabama at Birmingham: will assess a personalised, home-based, video-supervised high-intensity intermittent exercise protocol to determine effects on mitochondrial function and muscle fat depots linked to physical function and fatigue.
Why the focus on lifestyle matters
Researchers and funders say lifestyle interventions — from diet to exercise and mental health support — are promising complements to medical therapies for chronic autoimmune diseases like lupus, but they have historically received less research funding. These mechanistic studies aim to reveal the biological pathways that could translate everyday changes into measurable benefits.
“Lifestyle interventions hold great promise for improving outcomes in lupus, but research in this area remains chronically underfunded,”
The comment came from Kari Fischer, PhD, Scientific Program Officer at the Lupus Research Alliance, in the organisation's announcement.
What this could mean for patients and clinicians
By combining clinical measures, laboratory biomarkers and, in one study, brain imaging, the projects seek to move beyond symptom reports to understand how specific interventions change body systems implicated in lupus. If mechanisms are identified, clinicians may have evidence to prescribe or recommend targeted lifestyle approaches as adjuncts to existing therapies, and patients could gain more options for managing pain, inflammation and fatigue.
| Investigator | Institution | Intervention |
|---|---|---|
| Jason Knight, MD, PhD | Regents of the University of Michigan | Ginger supplementation (neutrophil activation) |
| Jennifer Rogers, MD | Duke University | WHEEL: 12-week online Whole Health Empowerment for Lupus (brain imaging & pain) |
| Jose Rubio, MD | University of Alabama at Birmingham | Personalised home-based high-intensity intermittent exercise (muscle mitochondria/fat) |
For people living with lupus and those supporting them, the funded work could inform practical, low-barrier strategies — such as dietary supplements, remote programmes and at-home exercise protocols — that are easier to scale and adopt than some medical interventions. The findings are intended to provide the mechanistic evidence needed before such approaches can be widely recommended in clinical practice.
Further details on timelines and specific study protocols were not included in the announcement. The awards reflect a targeted effort by the Lupus Research Alliance to invest in mechanistic clinical trials that probe how everyday behaviours affect immune function, pain processing and muscle health in lupus.
