The Metrodora
Foundation
Catalyzing scientific collaboration and discovery to find cures for neuroimmune axis disorders.
Our Focus
Neuroimmune axis disorders impact hundreds of millions of people globally.
These conditions are caused by dysregulated communication between the nervous, immune, endocrine, and gastrointestinal systems. Neuroimmune axis disorders simultaneously affect multiple body systems, resulting in complex chronic illnesses that are difficult to diagnose and treat. Today, there are no cures for these conditions, and treatment options remain severely limited.
The Metrodora Foundation exists to accelerate paths to novel therapies and cures for these debilitating diseases.
14 %
Only about 14% of original research actually impacts clinical practice.
17 Years
It takes 17 years for original research to be implemented into patient care.
90 %
Close to 90% of clinical trials fail to lead to approved therapeutics.
Neuroimmune axis disorders include many conditions that fall under the following umbrellas:
There are currently no cures for neuroimmune axis disorders, and treatments are limited.
We need a new, more collaborative approach to basic and translational research that will drive necessary discoveries.
The Challenge
Understanding the biological mechanisms of neuroimmune axis disorders has not been prioritized.
This is due to the complexity of these illnesses and the siloed nature of our medical and research systems. Biobanks focused on neuroimmune axis disorders do not exist, further hindering research. Finding new therapies and cures for these life-altering conditions requires integrating research across multiple scientific disciplines and industries
Metrodora’s Vision
Activating a broader ecosystem to unlock cures.
The Metrodora Foundation’s mission is to accelerate scientific discoveries that will lead to breakthrough diagnostics, therapeutics and cures for people living with neuroimmune axis disorders.
Neuroimmune axis disorders are some of the most biologically complex conditions in medicine. Finding solutions to these diseases will require true collaboration across multiple scientific disciplines, as well as with industry. The Metrodora Foundation is breaking down barriers to scientific progress by facilitating collaboration between patients, clinicians, and researchers.
The Metrodora Foundation is funded by philanthropic donations, enabling us to aggressively pursue the most promising scientific research and respond in real-time to new discoveries.
The Metrodora Foundation's Research Model
Accelerating the speed of funding & furthering science. Translating discovery into cures.
Our Research Roadmap
Prioritizing imperative research areas with the greatest impact potential.
Genetic contributions to neuroimmune axis disorders
Many neuroimmune axis disorders appear to have a heritable component. We are using whole genome sequencing and epigenetics to accelerate the discovery of how genetic interactions are associated with these complex and likely polygenic diseases. This will change the landscape of how these neuroimmune axis disorders are characterized and diagnosed.
Biomarker discovery and validation
Biomarkers play fundamental roles in identifying disease and tracking disease severity. We are using genomics, multi-omics, and deep immune profiling to determine stratification biomarkers for neuroimmune axis disorders, providing insight into disease mechanisms.
Characterization of immune dysfunction
The gastrointestinal tract is the largest interface of the nervous, immune, and endocrine systems. We are just starting to understand the molecular and cellular details of how these systems interact. Deep immune profiling of innate and adaptive cells, immune mediators, and metabolites using high-resolution cytometry and multi-omics approaches will deepen our understanding of mucosal immunology and help determine how immune dysregulation leads to disease.
Gastrointestinal microbiota-neuroimmune axis interactions
Microbes play important roles in health and disease. Understanding how the microbiota modulates the neuroimmune axis will lead to new classes of therapeutics. We are using revolutionary tools to three-dimensionally map microbiota-host interactions at the single-cell level along the length of the GI tract. This will provide unprecedented insights into the biological mechanisms driving GI symptoms in neuroimmune axis disorders.
If successful, in the next ten years we will have identified new diagnostics, therapies, and cures for several neuroimmune axis disorders — and have demonstrated a scalable scientific research model that can be replicated across other disease spaces.
Be part of finding the first cures.
Scientific Advisory Board
Michal “Mikki” Caspi Tal, PhD
Principal Scientist, MIT Department of Biological Engineering Associate Scientific Director, MIT Center for Gynepathology Research
Linda G. Griffith, PhD
Departments of Biological and Mechanical Engineering Director of Center for Gynepathology Research Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Steven Hicks, MD, PhD
Associate Professor of Pediatrics, Pennsylvania State University College of Medicine
Holden Maecker, PhD
Professor of Microbiology and Immunology, and Director of the Human Immune Monitoring Center, Stanford University
