CHICAGO, Jan. 21, 2026 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The Foundation for Sarcoidosis Research (FSR) has awarded four grants in the amount of $100,000 each to Dr. Christen Vagts from the University of Illinois at Chicago, Dr. Chieh-Yu Lin from Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, both Members of the FSR Global Sarcoidosis Clinic Alliance - Dr. Vivienne Kahlmann from Erasmus University Medical Center Rotterdam, and Dr. Nisha Gilotra from Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine.

Dr. Gilotra and Dr. Lin were each awarded $100k through FSR's Cardiac Sarcoidosis Grant program, and Dr. Kahlmann and Dr. Vagts each received $100k through FSR's Pilot Grant program. This funding supports early-stage research projects that show significant potential to drive meaningful progress in sarcoidosis diagnosis, treatment, and patient care. These awards build on FSR's rapidly growing grants portfolio and are intended to generate the early data, tools, and collaborations needed to transform sarcoidosis care worldwide.

Dr. Vagt's project, Monocyte Dysregulation as a Driver of Fibrotic Progression in Sarcoidosis, focuses on circulating monocytes, a type of immune cell found in the blood. She will study how monocytes behave differently in patients with sarcoidosis and help doctors recognize which patients are most at risk for fibrosis (scarring) of the lung and other organs.

"I am grateful for this award as it allows me to build on the progress made through my previous FSR-supported work and continue pursuing the questions that matter most to my patients with fibrotic pulmonary sarcoidosis," says Dr. Vagts. "By leveraging existing data, I am working to uncover the immune ...