Dan Doctoroff, Biogen and NIAMS honored for advancing biomedical research
NORTH BETHESDA, Md.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--The Foundation for the National Institutes of Health (FNIH) will award the 2026 Charles A. Sanders, MD, Partnership Award to Dan Doctoroff, Target ALS founder and research advocate; Biogen; and the National Institutes of Health’s (NIH) National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases (NIAMS). The Partnership Award recognizes persons or organizations that have made significant contributions to the FNIH’s work in support of the NIH mission.
“Effective partnerships help fuel scientific progress. By bringing together creative, passionate individuals and organizations, we accelerate discoveries that improve human health,” said FNIH President and CEO Julie Gerberding, MD, MPH. “We are deeply grateful to these remarkable awardees for their commitment to ‘team science’ and biomedical research.”
Doctoroff is the founder of Target ALS, the largest global ALS research-focused nonprofit organization and a partner in the Accelerating Medicines Partnership® (AMP®) Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS) program. He was instrumental in designing and launching AMP ALS, working closely with FNIH to bring together a diverse group of partners. Under his leadership, AMP ALS initiated the ALS Knowledge Portal, which will become the largest data source for ALS research and support ongoing data sharing, collaboration and discovery.
Biogen is a longstanding and committed partner, supporting FNIH public-private partnerships for 15 years. The company has advanced numerous initiatives across immunology and neuroscience, providing financial and strategic support for projects within the FNIH Biomarkers Consortium, AMP and the Alzheimer’s Disease Neuroimaging Initiative.
NIAMS, one of NIH’s 27 Institutes and Centers, played a key role in developing the AMP program, a public-private partnership between NIH, life sciences companies, patient communities and philanthropic groups to transform the current model for developing new diagnostics and treatments. Today, NIAMS continues to advance bold research as the NIH lead of AMP Autoimmune and Immune-Mediated Diseases. NIAMS is also a key contributing member of the FNIH Biomarkers Consortium.
The Charles A. Sanders, MD, Partnership Award is named for the founding Chairman of the FNIH Board of Directors. The recipients will be awarded at the 14th Annual FNIH Awards Ceremony on the evening of Oct. 28, 2026, in Washington, D.C. The 2026 Montrone-Seigel Prize in Biomedical Sciences, the Paul-Gallin Trailblazer Prize for Physician-Scientists and the Kovler Prize for Trust in Life Science Journalism also will be presented.
The FNIH gratefully acknowledges Annual Awards Ceremony Premier Sponsors Fred and Donna Seigel.
For more information about the Partnership Award, visit FNIH.org/sandersaward.
About the Foundation for the National Institutes of Health
The Foundation for the National Institutes of Health (FNIH) builds public-private partnerships that connect leading biomedical scientists at the National Institutes of Health (NIH) with their counterparts in life sciences companies, academia, patient organizations, foundations, and regulatory agencies (including the Food and Drug Administration and European Medicines Agency). Through team science, the FNIH solves complex health challenges and accelerates breakthroughs for patients, regardless of who they are or what health threats they face. The FNIH contributes to the development of new therapies, diagnostics, and potential cures; advances global health; and helps train the next generations of scientists. Established by Congress to support the mission of the NIH, the FNIH is a not-for-profit 501(c)(3) charitable organization. For more information about the FNIH, please visit fnih.org.
Contacts
Kathy Scarbeck
FNIH
301-259-3026
KScarbeck@fnih.org
