+ More Filters

Reset Filters

Title

Funding Organization

Funding Type

Eligible Country

Deadline

Other (Select all that apply)

Show Expired Programs

Show Verified Programs

Not Verified

Alzheimer’s Disease Strategic Fund: Vascular Contributions to Cognitive Impairment and Dementia - Understanding Mechanisms of Dysfunction (VCID-UMD)

Alzheimer's Association

The Alzheimer’s Association aims to support innovative, high-risk, collaborative team science opportunities that investigate and focus on outstanding questions related to the biological underpinnings of Alzheimer’s disease (AD), including the vascular contributions to cognitive impairment and dementia (VCID). This funding call will be supported through an innovative funding model, the Alzheimer’s Disease Strategic Fund (ADSF), established in 2019 to support studies that advance our mechanistic understanding of disease biology. The ADSF expects timely sharing of data and resources generated from funded projects in accordance with the sharing principles detailed herein.

Program overview

In its second offering, the Vascular Contributions to Cognitive Impairment and Dementia - Understanding Mechanisms of Dysfunction (VCID-UMD) grant program aims to fund concerted and collaborative efforts that will explore critical questions to advance our understanding of VCID and its contributions to AD/ ADRD pathogenesis by targeting scientific questions on how VCID may intersect with immune, lipid and endolysosomal related functions to contribute to disease. Projects responsive to this call include, but are not limited to:

Exploring how vascular dysfunctions alter brain metabolism, and how defects in mechanisms such as alterations in the blood brain barrier (BBB), neurovascular coupling, cerebral blood flow or waste clearance contribute to amyloid aggregation and neuronal loss; and how diverse cell types residing in the vasculature including but not limited to endothelial cells, pericytes, smooth muscle cells, perivascular fibroblasts and/or perivascular immune cells contribute to these mechanisms.
Investigating vascular-immune crosstalk including but not limited to understanding the roles of parenchymal versus peripheral immune signaling or the innate versus adaptive immune system, and how defects on the vasculature contribute to the disruption of brain immune homeostasis. This could also consider questions related to cell type and stage throughout the brain and periphery.
Understanding how the lymphatic and glymphatic system contributes to vascular-related abnormalities and ultimately AD/ADRD pathogenesis.
Investigating the intersection between VCID, immune, lipid and endolysosomal function to contribute to AD/ADRD pathogenesis.
Defining the role of APOE contribution to cerebral amyloid angiopathy (CAA) and ARIA that could contribute to AD/ ADRD pathogenesis.
Understanding how vascular pathophysiology contributes and intersects with multiple disease-specific pathologies, including but not limited to Lewy Bodies, TDP-43 and others.
Leverage existing data sets that may support advances in our understanding of above questions.
Developing novel biomarkers related to measuring changes in VCID, with a goal of understanding biological implications at early- phases of AD/ ADRD.
Developing key tools and/or resources, such as imaging, that will benefit a broader range of scientific questions and/or studies related to neurovascular health.Tools and resources developed through this funding must be made broadly available to the scientific field.

Key dates and deadlines

Letter of intent due: June 15, 2026 — 5 p.m. ET
Full application due: Sept. 14, 2026 — 5 p.m. ET
Award notifications: By Nov. 30, 2026

Funding overview

Each VCID-UMD 2026 award is limited to a total of $300,000, with a funding range of $150,000 - $300,000 depending on the project scope. No indirect costs will be allowed. The maximum project duration is 3 years.

Note to Canadian applicants: The Alzheimer's Association and Brain Canada Foundation are pleased to consider partnership for successful Canadian-led applications.

Application process

Letters of intent are required. More information can be found in the RFA and on ProposalCentral.
Full applications must be submitted through ProposalCentral.

Application review process

Please see “how to apply” for more information about the Alzheimer’s Association application review process.

Additional information

For more information on eligibility, application requirements, review criteria, and more, please see the RFA.
All applicants/institutions are strongly encouraged to review the Conditions of Award before submitting an LOI.

AI Based Application Success Predictor

🧠 1. Strong Focus on Alzheimer’s Disease & Related Dementias (Non-Negotiable)

Projects must directly address:
- Alzheimer’s disease (AD) or:
- Alzheimer’s disease and related dementias (ADRD)
Includes:
- Diagnosis
- Prevention
- Treatment
- Care and quality of life

👉 Non-dementia neuroscience → low success probability

🔄 2. Strong Translational Pathway (Top Predictor)

The Association funds:
- Basic science → translational → clinical → care research
Increasing emphasis on:
- Translational research and clinical interventions

👉 Key question:
“How will this improve diagnosis, prevention, treatment, or patient care?”

🎯 3. Clear Clinical or Patient Impact (Critical)

Successful proposals usually:

Improve:
- Early diagnosis
- Therapeutic strategies
- Dementia care
- Prevention approaches

👉 Patient benefit is a major scoring factor

🚀 4. Innovation & High-Risk, High-Reward Science

The Alzheimer’s Association actively funds:
- Novel and breakthrough ideas
Especially through:
- Part the Cloud (PTC) initiatives for translational trials

👉 Incremental proposals are less competitive

🧬 5. High Priority Areas: Biomarkers, Early Detection & Therapeutics

Frequently funded areas:

Blood-based biomarkers
Neuroimaging
Precision medicine
Disease-modifying therapies
Early prediction models

👉 Early detection and therapeutic development are especially competitive

👩‍🔬 6. Early-Career Investigator Development (Major Priority)

The Association strongly supports:
- Postdocs
- Junior faculty
- New investigators entering dementia research

👉 Career development potential is heavily weighted

🤝 7. Strong Mentorship & Research Environment

Fellowship and early-career awards require:
- Structured mentorship
- Institutional support
Strong mentors improve competitiveness substantially

🌍 8. Broad Research Scope Including Care & Health Equity

Unlike some neurodegeneration funders, the Alzheimer’s Association funds:

Social-behavioral research
Care interventions
Public health and prevention
Health equity studies

👉 Community and caregiving research can be highly competitive if impactful

🧪 9. Feasible, Well-Designed Pilot Research

Many awards are:
- Pilot or career-development grants
Strong proposals include:
- Clear aims
- Realistic timelines
- Preliminary rationale

👉 Overly ambitious projects are commonly rejected

📈 10. Potential for Future NIH or Major Funding

Alzheimer’s Association grants are often:
- Seed funding mechanisms
Strong proposals:
- Generate pilot data for:
  - NIH R01s
  - Clinical trials
  - Large consortium grants

🌐 11. International & Collaborative Research Advantage

The program is:
- International in scope
Encourages:
- Cross-institutional and multidisciplinary collaboration

👉 Collaboration strengthens competitiveness, especially for translational projects

📊 Summary: Key Predictors (Ranked)

🔥 Highest impact factors:

Alzheimer’s/ADRD-specific focus
Translational relevance
Clear patient or clinical impact

⚖️ Major differentiators:

Innovation/high-risk ideas
Biomarker or therapeutic relevance
Early-career investigator development

📌 Supporting factors:

Mentorship quality
Feasibility
Future funding potential
Collaboration

💡 Insider Insight

Compared to NIH:

Alzheimer's Association is:
👉 more willing to fund:
- Early-stage ideas
- Pilot studies
- High-risk concepts
Strongly focused on:
- Career development
- Translational impact

👉 Winning formula:
Innovative AD-focused project + translational pathway + strong mentorship + feasible pilot design

✔️ What wins:

Biomarker and early detection studies
Translational therapeutic research
Innovative pilot projects with clinical potential
Care and health equity interventions with measurable impact

❌ What struggles:

Non-AD neuroscience
Pure basic science without translational relevance
Weak clinical significance
Overly broad or unrealistic proposals

Specialties

Neurosciences

Eligibility Requirements

Applicants must hold a full-time position at the level of Assistant Professor (similar to Lecturer or other equivalent) or above at the time of LOI submission at an academic institution, or Veterans Administration hospital in the U.S.
Only one primary PI per application. Multiple PI projects are not allowed. However, collaborators may be included as key personnel on the project.
Full eligibility criteria are detailed in the RFA.

Sponsor Details

Sponsor Institute/Organizations: Alzheimer's Association

Sponsor Type: Corporate/Non-Profit

Address: 225 N Michigan Ave. Floor 17 Chicago, IL 60601 800.272.3900

Legal & Affiliation Disclaimer

Affiliation Disclaimer: Trialect operates independently and is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or supported by any sponsors or organizations posting on the GrantsBoard platform. As an independent aggregator of publicly available funding opportunities, Trialect provides equal access to information for all users without endorsing any specific funding source, content, organization, or sponsor. Trialect assumes no responsibility for the content posted by sponsors or third parties.

Subscription Disclaimer: Upon logging into Trialect, you may choose to SUBSCRIBE to GrantsBoard for timely notifications of funding opportunities and to access exclusive benefits, such as priority alerts, reminders, personalized recommendations, and additional application support. However, users are advised to contact sponsors directly for any questions and are not required to subscribe to engage with funding opportunities.

Content Ownership and Copyright Disclaimer: Trialect respects the intellectual property rights of all organizations and individuals. All content posted on GrantsBoard is provided solely for informational purposes and remains the property of the original owners. Trialect does not claim ownership of, nor does it have any proprietary interest in, content provided by third-party sponsors. Users are encouraged to verify content and ownership directly with the posting sponsor.

Fair Use Disclaimer: The information and content available on GrantsBoard are compiled from publicly accessible sources in alignment with fair use principles under U.S. copyright law. Trialect serves as an aggregator of this content, offering it to users in good faith and with the understanding that it is available for public dissemination. Any organization or individual who believes their intellectual property rights have been violated is encouraged to contact us for prompt resolution.

Third-Party Posting Responsibility Disclaimer: Trialect is a neutral platform that allows third-party sponsors to post funding opportunities for informational purposes only. Sponsors are solely responsible for ensuring that their postings comply with copyright, trademark, and other intellectual property laws. Trialect assumes no liability for any copyright or intellectual property infringements in third-party content and will take appropriate action to address any substantiated claims.

Accuracy and Verification Disclaimer: Trialect makes no warranties regarding the accuracy, completeness, or reliability of the information provided by sponsors. Users are advised to verify the details of any funding opportunity directly with the sponsor before taking action. Trialect cannot be held liable for any discrepancies, omissions, or inaccuracies in third-party postings.

Notice and Takedown Policy: Trialect is committed to upholding copyright law and protecting the rights of intellectual property owners. If you believe that content on GrantsBoard infringes your copyright or intellectual property rights, please contact us with detailed information about the claim. Upon receipt of a valid notice, Trialect will promptly investigate and, where appropriate, remove or disable access to the infringing content.

View Funding Opportunity