The Myasthenia Gravis Rare Disease Network (MGNet) has awarded the 2026 MGNet Pilot Award to Marina Chiara Garassino, MD. Dr. Garassino is a professor of medicine and director of the Thoracic Oncology Program at the University of Chicago.
Dr. Garassino’s project, “Morpho-Molecular Signatures of Myasthenia Gravis in Thymic Epithelial Tumors,” aims to develop the first AI-based tool to predict myasthenia gravis status directly from routine H&E-stained pathology slides in patients with thymic epithelial tumors by integrating deep learning–based digital pathology with spatial transcriptomics. Preliminary data from the TCGA thymic tumor cohort showed that MG status can be predicted from H&E whole-slide images with 70.4% sensitivity and 82.9% specificity, supporting the feasibility of morphology-based MG detection. Building on this foundation, the project will define morpho-molecular signatures associated with MG and translate them into interpretable MG risk maps to support early risk stratification, perioperative planning, and the design of future clinical trials.
Learn more about future research grants and funding opportunities through MGNet
