UCI receives $4.2 million grant to study sporadic inclusion body myositis affecting aging adults The National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases has awarded UCI a 5-year, $4.2 million grant to study sporadic inclusion body myositis (sIBM), which affects aging adults causing asymmetric muscle weakness and severe disability. The disease is currently untreatable and poorly understood. Led by principal investigator, Tahseen Mozaffar, MD, a professor of neurology and director of the Division of Neuromuscular Disorders and the UCI-MDA ALS and Neuromuscular Center at University of California Irvine's School of Medicine, the project aims to provide a detailed characterization of sIBM disease progression over a two-year period and explore biomarkers associated with the disease, along with their influence on disease behavior and progression. This study will be the largest of its kind, enrolling 150 subjects, with a planned two-year follow up, the longest duration to date.