Millions of people live with autoimmune disease, and many don’t have just one. We need more research into why.

When you live with autoimmune disease, being diagnosed with one condition is sometimes only the beginning. Many people go on to develop additional autoimmune diseases, creating a level of complexity that isn’t always reflected in research, treatment, or public understanding.

This is not simply a personal observation. The NIH itself recognizes that people living with one autoimmune disease may be at increased risk of developing additional autoimmune diseases and identifies research into the shared mechanisms between autoimmune diseases as an important research priority. Advancing Autoimmune Disease Research: Integrating Genetic, Environmental, and Immunological Factors to Improve Diagnosis and Treatment

I know this reality personally. At 23, I was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis. Since then, my health journey has involved multiple diagnoses and symptoms that have affected my mobility, digestive health, migraines, mental health, and overall quality of life.

And this isn’t about “collecting diagnoses.” It’s about biology.

We need to understand why autoimmune diseases so often occur together.

Research into autoimmune diseases has the potential to help us understand the shared mechanisms underlying these conditions, identify better treatments, improve diagnosis, and ultimately prevent people from spending years trying to find answers and receiving one diagnosis after another.

That’s why I’m calling for increased federal funding for autoimmune disease research, including research into why multiple autoimmune diseases can occur in the same person (polyautoimmunity) and the biological connections between autoimmune conditions.

Please sign this petition and help bring more attention and funding to autoimmune research.