The Preeclampsia Foundation has announced a call for Letters of Intent under its Peter Joseph Pappas Research Grants program. This initiative aims to advance scientific discoveries that could eventually eliminate the need for premature delivery as a treatment for severe preeclampsia, HELLP syndrome, and other pregnancy-related hypertensive disorders. Established in memory of Peter Joseph Pappas, the infant son of preeclampsia survivor Lauren Pappas and her husband Clement, the program plans to distribute multiple research grants in 2025, with total funding of up to $200,000 over two years.

Researchers are encouraged to submit proposals addressing priority gaps identified during a 2020 workshop on preeclampsia jointly organized by the Preeclampsia Foundation and the Society for Maternal-Fetal Medicine. Relevant topics may include investigating the biological mechanisms and subtypes of preeclampsia, developing more accurate diagnostic or predictive tools, exploring treatments that can prevent, reverse, or stop placental and organ damage associated with the disease, and promoting preconception and inter-conception health to improve pregnancy outcomes.

Preference will be given to projects that utilize or expand resources available through the Preeclampsia Registry™, which includes self-reported information, whole-exome sequencing data, and clinical records. Proposals that generate new datasets or biological samples suitable for inclusion in the Registry are also encouraged. Detailed eligibility requirements and application guidelines are available on the Foundation’s website.

The grant program honors Peter Pappas, who was born at 29 weeks following complications from severe preeclampsia and HELLP syndrome. Since its inception, the fund has supported nearly a dozen research projects focused on areas such as potential treatments, genetic factors, and the role of placental function in the development of preeclampsia.

Reflecting on their motivation, Lauren Pappas shared that the loss of their son after a 29-week delivery caused by preeclampsia inspired the family to establish the Peter Joseph Pappas Fund to help prevent similar tragedies for others.

Clement Pappas noted that continued support from relatives, friends, and the Foundation has enabled meaningful progress toward the long-term objective of eliminating preterm births caused by preeclampsia by the year 2050.

Additional information about the funding opportunity is available online. Letters of Intent must be submitted by 5:00 p.m. Eastern Time on Friday, August 14, 2026.

Advancing Access to Healthcare through Innovation and Partnerships
Expanding access to medicines and healthcare relies on the continuous creation of evidence-driven solutions to address unmet medical needs. To support this mission, we actively engage in collaborative scientific efforts with academic institutions, research organizations, start-ups, pharmaceutical companies, hospitals, and health maintenance groups.

These partnerships help us discover external innovations that complement our internal R&D objectives. This collaborative approach enhances our scientific presence and accelerates the expansion of our innovative drug pipeline, aligning with the Step-up Innovation focus of our Pivot to Growth strategy. Ultimately, these initiatives aim to reduce the time needed for drug discovery and development and improve the likelihood of identifying successful therapeutic candidates.

Our Model for Innovation and Collaboration
Our innovation strategy is multi-faceted—bridging internal priorities (uncovered through team workshops and consultations) with external opportunities identified via detailed mapping, database analysis, AI-based scouting, and traditional methods. By being actively involved in key trade and industry associations, we strengthen our position within the global biotech ecosystem. As a trusted collaborator, we offer access to industry insights and the expertise of our skilled teams.

Partnerships Across the U.S. and Europe
In the United States, we have strategic innovation partnerships with top academic institutions including Harvard University, Thomas Jefferson University, University of Pittsburgh, University of Oklahoma, and University of Pennsylvania.

In Europe, we’ve been an active participant in the Innovative Medicines Initiative (IMI)—Europe’s largest public-private partnership in life sciences—since 2019. This initiative supports the development of advanced vaccines, medicines, and treatment methods. As of 2024, we are involved in over eight IMI consortia, covering the full spectrum of drug development. Two of the latest projects focus on biologics and biomarker research:

Israel as a Strategic Innovation Hub
Given our strong historical roots in Israel, the country plays a vital role in our global innovation efforts. Since re-establishing our focus there in 2020, we have initiated around 50 research collaborations with Israeli scientists. These projects have secured 18 grants from the Israel Innovation Authority, with two receiving additional funding in 2024.

Key Israel-based innovation initiatives include:

Research into Public Health Needs
Our research team gathers and interprets public health and epidemiological data to assess the clinical, economic, and social needs of patients in key therapeutic areas such as neurology, psychiatry, immunology, and oncology. We focus on understanding disease burden, testing innovative clinical education tools, and improving access to treatment. This data also supports trial design by helping to identify the most appropriate patient populations and inclusion criteria. In 2024, we presented findings at 176 scientific conferences and published 55 articles in peer-reviewed medical and scientific journals.

Teva’s 2024 Academic Publications on PubMed (55 total):

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