About the Foundation
Our story, mission, and values
We fund research into rare autoimmune conditions, support young scientists from disadvantaged backgrounds, and build resources that will outlast any single fundraising effort.
Our mission
To fund research into autoimmune diseases, open up scientific careers to young people from disadvantaged backgrounds, and build the kind of long-term financial base that means this work doesn't depend on any one person or any one funding round.
Research
Fund overlooked autoimmune disease research
Education
Support talented students in science careers
Sustainability
Build endowment for lasting impact
Our founder
Michael Loizias
Michael lives with Primary Sclerosing Cholangitis (PSC) and Crohn's Disease. His personal experience with autoimmune conditions inspired the creation of the Loizias Foundation.
Read Michael's storyHow it began
The Loizias Foundation was not born in a boardroom. It was born in a hospital bed.
Michael Loizias has lived with Crohn's Disease since 2017. In November 2024, he was diagnosed with Primary Sclerosing Cholangitis (PSC), a rare liver condition that progressively damages the bile ducts. There are no treatments and no cure. The diagnosis triggered his most severe Crohn's flare in six years.
By December 2024, he had lost 15 kilograms in three weeks. Emergency surgery lasting seven hours removed 1.5 metres of his large intestine. Post-operative complications caused both lungs to collapse, and he spent three days in intensive care. Doctors told his wife he would not have survived another 24 to 48 hours.
He was discharged on December 31st, having lost 22 kilograms, and now lives with a permanent stoma bag. During the weeks of recovery that followed, the Loizias Foundation went from an idea to a decision.
"I don't know what the future holds for my health. But every research grant we fund, every scholarship we award, every young scientist we support, that's a step forward. All we can do is Keep Moving Forward."
Michael Loizias, Founder
Why it exists
Living with PSC brought something into sharp focus. Research funding follows patient numbers. Pharmaceutical companies invest where the market is large enough to justify it. Government grants go to studies with broad population impact. Rare diseases tend not to meet any of those criteria.
That means hundreds of thousands of patients in the UK, and many more globally, are waiting for treatments that the commercial system has little reason to develop. The problem isn't a lack of scientific interest. It's a lack of funding that reaches the right places.
The foundation was set up to do something practical about that: fund the research that doesn't attract mainstream money, open up scientific careers to people who wouldn't otherwise get there, and build an endowment so that work can continue regardless of what happens with donations year to year.
Fund the overlooked
Back research into rare autoimmune conditions that commercial funders and government grants tend to pass over.
Build the next generation
Give talented young people from disadvantaged backgrounds a genuine route into scientific careers through scholarships and mentorship.
Last beyond a lifetime
Grow an investment portfolio that generates returns to fund the work independently, so it doesn't rise and fall with donation income.
How we're structured
The Loizias Foundation is a registered charity in England and Wales. We publish clear accounts of how funds are used and hold ourselves to the same standards we'd expect from any organisation we support.
Our work runs across three areas: research grants, educational scholarships, and the endowment investment portfolio. Each has its own criteria, oversight, and reporting.
Research Programme
Direct funding for autoimmune disease research at universities and research institutions.
Education Programme
Scholarships and mentorship for students from disadvantaged backgrounds pursuing scientific careers.
Investment Programme
Building a sustainable endowment to ensure long-term funding capacity.
Advisory Board
Guidance from medical researchers, educators, and charitable sector experts.
Our values
The principles that guide everything we do.
Transparency
Open about where funds go and what impact they create.
Long-term thinking
Building for decades, not just the next funding cycle.
Accessibility
Opening doors for people who wouldn't otherwise have them.
Integrity
Doing what's right, even when no one is watching.
Read Michael's story
Michael's personal account of living with PSC and Crohn's Disease, and what it led him to build.