Over 50 million Americans live with an autoimmune disease like lupus, type 1 diabetes, multiple sclerosis, and rheumatoid arthritis. We estimate the number of people being diagnosed with an autoimmune disease is rising 3-12% each year. The average journey to diagnosis is 4.5 to 5 years. For some, it can take a lifetime. Without science, there is no path to diagnosis. No path to better treatment. No prevention. No path to an eventual cure. Without research, autoimmune patients, many in the prime of their lives, are left to battle managing their disease. 

Currently, there are few effective treatments for the more than 150 chronic conditions classified as autoimmune diseases. Research undertaken and funded by the National Institutes of Health has advanced CAR T-cell therapy, precision immunology, and AI-driven diagnostics. This research is opening new frontiers in care and cures are on the line if we don’t continue to support the National Institutes of Health. Scientists working with NIH are on the brink of major breakthroughs. Immune-targeted therapies are reducing disease activity in various autoimmune diseases, and these new therapies promise hope.  

However, recent cuts to NIH threaten the progress we’ve made. We need Congress to invest in science. We need Congress to invest in hope. We need Congress to invest in our future.