Program Objective:
The Alzheimer’s Strategic Fund, established in 2019, will support innovative, high-risk,
team-science opportunities that investigate and focus on outstanding questions related
to the biological underpinnings of Alzheimer’s disease (AD). In its initial call for
proposals, the Fund will focus on the impact of neuroimmune function in AD through the
Alzheimer’s Strategic Fund: Neuroimmune Program.
Although many advances have been made in Alzheimer’s research in recent years, the
field still faces gaps in our knowledge and ability to translate basic science discoveries
into effective treatments and evidence-based clinical practices for dementia care. Some
of the many challenges include, but are not limited to:
- Cause(s) of the Disease: How and why do specific sets of neurons in select brain
structures become dysfunctional? Why is there selective vulnerability in specific
brain regions and not in others? What initiates these processes and are they cell
autonomous or non-cell autonomous in nature? What are key steps in the
cascade of events leading to neuronal cell death? How do genetic factors interact
with other factors to influence these processes? - Experimental Models of Disease: Considerable advances have been made in the
development of cellular and animal models for AD; however, these model
systems do not capture the full complexity of the human condition. This has been
problematic in applying these models to predict the success of specific
therapeutic interventions in individuals with AD. Are there novel technologies or
approaches that recapitulate the disease progression and/or pathogenesis to
support model applications? - Early and Accurate Detection and Diagnosis: What are the most sensitive,
specific and cost-effective diagnostic procedures? What are the most sensitive,
specific and cost-effective procedures for assessing change throughout the
course of the disease? - Treatment: What are the most effective and safe pharmacological treatment
strategies, behavioral management techniques, and combinations of therapies? - Tool development: What are key tools and/or resources that if developed will
benefit a broader range of scientific questions and/or studies? Tools and
resources developed through this funding would be made broadly available to the
scientific field.
The primary neuropathological events in AD involve abnormal expression and
processing of proteins, along with activation of the immune system, including innate and
adaptive immunity pathways. Immune homeostasis dysregulation and
neuroinflammation are evident in the brains of individuals with AD and AD-related
disorders, and may be more proximal to neuronal dysfunction and death than early
brain changes, such as the aggregation and accumulation of beta amyloid or tau. In its
initial call for proposals, the Alzheimer’s Strategic Fund will focus on the biological
neuroimmune consequences for disease in the Alzheimer’s Strategic Fund:
Neuroimmune Program. Advances in molecular biology have provided the tools
needed to begin to unravel the mechanisms of immune regulation and dysregulation
and develop strategies to correct this molecular damage. Although these insights into
the neurobiology of the disease have generated a number of ideas, the precise etiology
of the disease is still unknown.
Program Overview:
Immune dysregulation and neuroinflammation are evident in the brains of individuals
with AD and AD-related disorders, and may be more proximal to neuronal dysfunction
and death than early brain changes, such as the aggregation and accumulation of beta
amyloid or tau. The Alzheimer’s Strategic Fund: Neuroimmune Program is a new
funding mechanism targeted to address gaps in our understanding of how immune
responses may impact AD and AD-related disorders. Potential themes may include, but
are not limited to, studies that:
- Investigate mechanisms underlying immune dysregulation in AD associated with
e.g., genetic variants, comorbidities, environmental risk factors, biological sex, or
history of SARS-COV2 infection. - Augment cohort studies with additional biomarker and genetic analyses including
multi-omic approaches, epigenetics, and genomics; blood and cerebrospinal fluid
analyte and neuroimaging. - Develop longitudinal characterization of immune function to understand immune
system dynamics and identify biomarkers with which to measure innate or
adaptive immune function that is relevant to AD. - Develop systematic, longitudinal immunoprofiling of immune cells, both
peripherally and centrally, in subjects with deep phenotypic characterization
relevant to AD pathology, in order to understand how systemic and brain immune
functions affect one another and impact biological underpinnings. - Explore single-cell sequencing technologies to characterize and assess
comparisons between AD, other dementia and control samples. - Transfer knowledge of immune function from other research fields (e.g. cancer,
HIV, cardiovascular disease, diabetes) and apply these lessons to AD models in
order to stimulate new knowledge and findings.
The maximum grant amount is $300,000; with anticipated funding ranges to be
$150,000 to $300,000 depending on the project scope. No indirect costs are allowable
for this funding program. The maximum project duration is 3 years, and there is no
minimum timeframe. The Alzheimer’s Strategic Fund committee will evaluate projects
on progress toward specific milestones; continued disbursement of funds is dependent
on demonstrated progress toward key milestones.
Eligibility:
The Neuroimmune program is open to researchers at academic institutions as well as
small companies. Both non-profits and small for-profit organizations are eligible. Small
for-profit organizations are defined as companies with 50 or fewer employees. For-profits
and non-profits must provide documentation verifying status. The Principal
Investigator of the project must be a full-time faculty member or paid employee of the
organization submitting the proposal. If the applicant is not a paid employee, they must
demonstrate that they are part of the company and a listed employee. Applications from
post-doctoral researchers will not be accepted. Investigators that have received
Alzheimer’s Association funding and are currently delinquent in submitting required
reports or have awards closed as “Incomplete” are not eligible to apply. For questions
about eligibility, please contact the Alzheimer’s Association at grantsapp@alz.org.
Submitting a Letter of Intent:
The Letter of Intent (LOI) is a required step in the application process. LOIs must be
completed online at https://proposalcentral.com. First-time users must register and
complete a Professional Profile to begin the LOI process. No hard copies will be
accepted.
The LOI is completed through the online interactive system; you will need to complete
the required sections and upload any required documents. The main section will have a
limit of 10,000 characters, approximately 3 pages, and should include the information
below (no figures/graphics or images are allowed):
- Brief project description, including methodology
- Specific aims of the project
- Innovation/novelty of the project
- Project team
- Plan for data sharing
Evaluation of LOIs:
All LOIs will be evaluated prior to invitation for a full proposal. Only LOIs that meet
program specific guidelines and meet review criteria, including the goals of the
Alzheimer’s Strategic Fund call, will be invited to submit full applications.
LOIs will be reviewed by a panel of experts with special attention to:
- Demonstrable innovation/novelty of the proposed project (especially in the
context of the PI/PIs and team recent work) - Alignment with the research priorities of the RFA
- Impact of project on AD research
- Evidence of methodological rigor that address the research question(s) being
proposed - While not required, priority will be given to studies that leverage interdisciplinary
and/or inter-institutional teams to accomplish the proposed project in a way no
one group would be able to do independently.
Feedback is not provided for LOIs that are not invited to submit a full application.
Submitting a Full Application:
For those invited to submit a full application, additional materials will be required.
Templates and instructions will be provided after LOI approval.
Full applications will include:
- Executive Summary (1 page)
- Background/ Rationale (1 page): should include background and clearly defined
hypothesis and/or rationale addressing why strategy is expected to be fruitful.
This should also note the specific aims. - Work Plan (up to 5 pages): should include goals/specific aims, methods and
project plan and should be organized in alignment with the milestones as outlined
in the application. - Project Milestones: work plan should be separated into one-year intervals with
specific milestones to be accomplished within that timeframe. Milestones should
align with your overall project goals and be designed for easy progress
evaluation and for clear determination on whether or not milestones have been
met. For each milestone, indicate the relevant Project Aim. - Principal Investigator(s) and Key Personnel Curriculum Vitae or Biosketch (no
more than 5 pages per person); there is no limit on the number of CVs to be
included. - Available Resources and Budget Justification (2 pages):
Expenses that will not be allowed under this award include: tuition for full
degree programs, rent for laboratory/office space, construction or
renovation costs, liability insurance, networking and communication fees,
and any facilities fees and laboratory/supply costs not directly relevant to
the project. If awarded, a full budget of planned expenses will be required.
Include a list of tools/models available (if appropriate, list critical tools and
models to be used or needed in the course of the research).No indirect
costs will be allowed. - Budget should be broken down in 1-year increments and align with project
milestones. - Data sharing plan (1 page): it is expected that data generated through this funding
mechanism will include a robust plan for sharing data as well as appropriate
included budget to accommodate this plan. Data sharing is a key component of
the application and will be considered in the review and evaluation. Information
on timelines, feasibility and the platform(s) and/or mechanisms of sharing should
be included. Failure to share data appropriately may prevent investigators from
being eligible for future funding. - Citations/References (1 page): Use the reference style that is most common in
major journal(s).
Deadlines and Award Timeline:
Now Accepting Letters of Intent (LOIs). LOIs will be accepted through 5:00 PM
EST Thursday, August 20, 2020. LOIs will be reviewed and moved forward on a
rolling basis. Letters of Intent will not be accepted after this date. No exceptions will
be made. All LOIs must be completed online at https://proposalcentral.com. No hard
copies or emails will be accepted.
For those invited to submit a full application, the full Application must be
received by 5:00 PM EST, five (5) weeks from the date of invitation. Applications
will not be accepted after this date. No exceptions will be made. No hard copies or
emails will be accepted.
Award announcements will be made by November 30.
For More Information:
Contact grantsapp@alz.org