Monday, March 30, 2026
Competition sought bold ideas to better understand how dietary interventions could influence disease onset and symptom management.
The National Institutes of Health (NIH) today has chosen 15 scientific teams from across the nation as cash prize winners for their submissions to a national crowdsourcingchallenge(link is external)designed to generate innovative ideas that integrate diet and nutrition into autoimmune disease research. Winning submissions investigated the effectiveness of dietary interventions; microbiome, immune system and multi-omic approaches; personalized and data-driven predictive nutrition; and community and patient-center research frameworks.
Autoimmune diseases affect more than 8% of the U.S. population, impacting between 23 and 50 million Americans. Despite the prevalence and significant economic burden of autoimmune diseases, the role of diet and nutrition in this area remains largely underexplored. NIH invited researchers, clinicians, patients, caregivers, advocacy groups, and interdisciplinary teams to submit feasible, scalable approaches to better understand how dietary interventions may influence autoimmune disease onset, progression, flares, and symptom management.
The challenge, known as the Nutrition for Our Immune System Health (NOURISH): Autoimmunity Challenge and led by NIH’s Office of Autoimmune Disease Research, yielded many highly competitive submissions, and resulted in 15 prize awards, totaling $10,000 to each team. The winners showed thoughtful planning and designs that, with further development, could result in innovative solutions to benefit Americans affected by autoimmune diseases. Each winning entry contributed innovative, scientifically rigorous, and patient-centered ideas to advance the science of autoimmune disease research and care in one of four thematic areas.
For a full list of winning submissions and honorable mentions, visit:https://orwh.od.nih.gov/in-the-spotlight/winners-of-nutrition-for-our-immune-system-health-nourish-autoimmunity-challenge(link is external)
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National Institutes of Health (NIH)
NIH Office of Communications(link is external)