Biological aging and treatment response in myasthenia gravis
Official title: Project 2 Biological Age in Myasthenia Gravis: Impact on Stratification and Treatment Response
Funded at George Washington University · NIH-11171996 · Data updated 2026-11-12
This project measures biological age from blood and tissue samples in people with myasthenia gravis to see if it helps explain who responds to treatments like thymectomy.
Quick facts
| Grant type | NIH-funded research |
|---|---|
| Study type | NIH-funded research |
| Funding institution | George Washington University NIH-funded |
| Lab location | 1 site (Washington, United States) |
| Project start | September 1, 2019 |
| Project end | August 31, 2030 |
| Funding year | 2025 |
| Award (this year) | $307,979 |
| NIH project number | 2U54NS115054-06 |
| Project ID | NIH-11171996 on NIH RePORTER |
Who could benefit from this research
✓Could help
Adults with myasthenia gravis similar to participants in the MGTX trial (approximately ages 18–65) or those able to contribute samples to the EXPLORE-MG biobank are the best fit.
✕Less likely to help
Children, people older than the trial age range, or those who cannot provide blood or tissue samples are unlikely to benefit directly from this project.
What this research studies
Researchers will use blood and stored specimens from the MGTX clinical trial and the EXPLORE-MG biobank to measure biological age using protein, gene expression, and DNA methylation markers. They will compare biological age to chronological age to see if people with MG appear biologically older. The team will study immune-cell features like T cell mitochondrial activity and methylation to find drivers of autoimmunity. Finally, they will check whether effective treatment is linked to a reduction in biological age and whether higher biological age predicts treatment resistance.
Why it matters
Potential benefit: If successful, this work could help personalize MG care by identifying patients less likely to respond to certain treatments and guiding therapy choices.
How similar studies have gone: Biological age measures have shown promise in other diseases, but applying these metrics to myasthenia gravis and predicting treatment response is a new approach.
Where this research is happening
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George Washington University
Washington, United States Active
Researchers
- Principal investigator: Kusner, Linda Louise — George Washington University
- Study coordinator: Kusner, Linda Louise
Related research
Other NIH-funded projects on the same topics.
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Understanding how autoimmunity causes myasthenia gravis
This project looks at why the immune system attacks the nerve-muscle connection in myasthenia gravis and how different patient groups are affected.
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Biological age in myasthenia gravis: guiding who responds to treatment
A patient-friendly look at how a person’s biological age, not just their calendar age, might predict how MG patients respond to treatment and how treatments could even reduce biological aging.
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CapTURE-MG: A patient-friendly MG data toolkit in a common EHR
A multi-site effort to use a streamlined MG toolkit inside the Epic EHR to collect consistent, real-world information about myasthenia gravis from routine care.
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Rare Disease Network for Myasthenia Gravis
A nationwide effort to improve diagnosis, monitoring, and trial readiness for people with myasthenia gravis through biomarker work and better care tools.
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Understanding how autoimmune attacks cause myasthenia gravis
Researchers are studying how the immune system mistakenly targets the neuromuscular junction in myasthenia gravis to identify why the disease starts and how it progresses.
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Mechanistically informed deep learning to study autoreactive B cells in Myasthenia Gravis
A study using advanced computer models to find hidden immune-cell signals in people with Myasthenia Gravis, including those who don’t yet show detectable antibodies.
About this research
- This is an active NIH-funded research project — typically early-stage science, not a clinical trial accepting patient enrollment.
- Some NIH-funded labs run parallel clinical studies or seek volunteers for related work. To check, contact the principal investigator or institution listed above.
- For full project details, budget, and progress reports, visit the official NIH RePORTER page.