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Competition objectives

The Alzheimer's Association recognizes the need to support the training of clinician scientists in Alzheimer's and all other dementias. For the purpose of this program, a clinician scientist is defined as an individual already trained, licensed and practicing in a clinical field that includes patient contact (e.g., neurology, psychiatry, geriatrics, psychology) or patient-related diagnostic studies (e.g., neuropathology and radiology).

Applicants who are within 15 years of receiving their M.D., D.O. or Ph.D. (or equivalent) and have licensure for clinical practice, including postdoctoral fellows through Assistant Professors, are eligible. Positions higher than Assistant Professor will not be considered.

The areas of research that the clinician scientist proposes for funding are not limited to patient-oriented, human subject research, but may also include translational research specifically designed to develop treatments or enhance diagnosis of neurological disease. These translational areas of research include epidemiologic or behavioral studies, clinical trials, studies of disease mechanisms, mapping disease features or spread the development of new technologies and health services and outcomes research. Disease related basic science studies not directly involving humans or human tissue are also encouraged if the primary goal is the development of therapies, diagnostic tests, or other tools to prevent or mitigate neurological diseases.

The Alzheimer's Association feels strongly that the mentoring and involvement of researchers from diverse backgrounds and perspectives is essential to engaging cutting edge ideas and thinking in addressing scientific gaps for Alzheimer’s and all dementias.

The mechanism of the award is the individual research grant. The maximum allowable duration is three years (minimum two years).

Funding and award period

Each AACSF award is limited to $250,000. Component parts of the award include:

• A total of $230,000 (including direct and indirect costs) will be awarded for costs related to the proposed research for up to three years (Award should be a minimum 2 years. For a 2-year award the total is limited to $200,000 with direct and indirect costs). Requests in any given year may not exceed $100,000 (direct and indirect costs). Indirect costs are capped at 10 percent of total direct costs and are inclusive of indirect costs for the implementing institution as well as any to subcontracts.
• Support for travel to scientific and professional meetings and additional support for travel expenses necessary to carry out research planned – this may include site visits. A total of $12,500 over a three year period may be requested for travel purposes and is not to exceed $7,000 in any given year. If you request the full $12,500 towards just two years of travel and are requesting a three year award you will not be able to request travel funds for one of those years.Total travel cost should not exceed $12,500 for the duration of the award and must include attendance to the annual Alzheimer’s Association International Conference (AAIC).
• The remaining funds are two $10,000 research stipends ($10,000 to the applicant and $10,000 to the primary mentor), which are not guaranteed and are awarded only upon successful completion of the award. Successful completion of the award includes, but is not limited to, successfully achieving project aims and accomplishing all of the Fellowship benchmarks. These research stipends are to be applied to sustaining ongoing research in the Alzheimer’s field and will be paid to the applicant‘s and mentor‘s respective institutions at the time of release.

The Principal Investigator (PI) must commit up to an average of two protected days per week (40%) of effort toward their research efforts during each funding year.

Eligibility

Applicants must be clinicians (clinical fellows, postdoctoral fellows through assistant professors; or equivalent positions) interested in an academic career who have:

• Full-time positions 
• Less than 15 years of research experience after receipt of their terminal degree (Ph.D, M.D./D.O. or Residency)
• Licensure for clinical practice and evaluate patients
• The Alzheimer's Association will make exceptions to the terminal degree requirement when the individual applicant has a full-time faculty position of Assistant Professor (or equivalent) or Associate Professor and is expert in the area of public health, social work, neuropsychology, legal, bioethics or a related area of psychosocial research

Note: Alzheimer’s Association grants are generally open to scientists and researchers across the globe; however, as a U.S.-based charity, the Alzheimer’s Association is subject to, and complies with, U.S. law. As a result, the Alzheimer’s Association cannot award, and will not award, grants in violation of applicable U.S. statutes and regulations. This means, among other things, that the Alzheimer’s Association cannot, and will not, fund any individual or entity (i) that is subject to U.S. comprehensive or targeted sanctions or if awarding funding would result in a violation of such sanctions, (ii) that is on the U.S. List of Specially Designated Nationals or entities owned or controlled by such persons, or (iii) when doing so is otherwise prohibited by U.S. laws related to combating terrorism.
 

Ineligibility

Ineligibility criteria include:

• Individuals who have a position above Associate Professorship are not eligible.
• Individuals currently enrolled as a student in a undergraduate, Master or Doctoral Program are not eligible, regardless of prior degree status.
• Please refer to Section III: B. Eligibility & Ineligibility in the full Program Announcement for additional ineligibility criteria., which are applicable to both Applicant/Fellow and the Mentor.

Deadlines and award dates

Letter of Intent (LOI) deadline: September 5, 2024, 5 p.m. EST.

Each AACSF LOI is evaluated with attention to:

• Demonstrable innovation/novelty of the proposed project (especially in the context of the PIs recently funded work)
• Alignment with the research priorities of the Alzheimer’s Association
• Impact of project on Alzheimer’s and all related dementia research
• Evidence of methodological rigor that address the research question(s) being proposed

Letter of Intent notifications: Week of October 7, 2024.

Note: due to the high volume of submissions, specific feedback and reviewer comments are not provided at the LOI stage.

Application deadline: November 12, 2024, 5 p.m. EST.

If invited to submit a full application, each AACSF application is evaluated on:

• Applicant’s ability and promise as a clinician scientist based on prior record of achievement and career plan, letters of support, and CV (30%)
• Quality and emphasis of applicant and originality of the research plan (40%)
• Significance of the question being studied, quality of the work plan and the impact-risk of the proposal, impact on advancement of diverse science (30%)
• Resubmissions will have the opportunity to provide a response to prior review

Award notifications: Prior to February 28, 2025.

Mentoring plans and fellowship benchmarks

Each Fellowship award must identify a primary mentor. The mentor should be experienced in conducting Alzheimer’s and dementia research and in mentoring junior investigators. The application must include a two-three page statement from the selected mentor that includes information on his/her research qualifications, experience as a research supervisor and commitment to the applicant. This statement will be a significant part of the application review. The application must also include information to describe the mentor's research support relevant to the applicant‘s research plan and the nature and extent of supervision and training that he/she will provide during the period of the award. Only one primary mentor is allowed; however, additional team members who might function as mentors can be listed as key personnel.

Note: The primary mentor must agree to provide annual evaluations of the applicant’s progress for the duration of the award, as required for the yearly progress report.

Mentors can be early-career researchers and/or mid-career scientists who choose to shift into Alzheimer’s and all dementia research. The applicant and proposed mentor must specify a mechanism for ensuring effective mentoring. The application should contain a plan for and an evaluation strategy of the mentoring process for enhancing diversity in the professional research workforce. A successful plan will include specific details on the mentoring goals designed towards achievements both related to research and other professional development.

Additionally, a successful mentorship plan should include the following Fellowship Benchmarks, which are required to receive the research stipends, but should not be limited to only these.

Required Fellowship Benchmarks are as follows:

• Attend at least one Association-sponsored networking event at the Alzheimer’s Association’s International Conference. (AAIC) REQUIRED
• Acceptance of an abstract at AAIC. REQUIRED
• Mandatory documentation of hours spent on face-to-face mentoring. REQUIRED
• Citation of specific exercises of mentorship such as supervision of manuscript writing and submission or grant writing and submission. REQUIRED
• Reviewing grant applications. This is not limited to the Alzheimer’s Association review process, as reviewing for other funding organizations, but supervised reviews are encouraged for those with little to no review experience. The Alzheimer’s Association staff will provide additional resources for those new to reviewing for the Association. REQUIRED
• Documentation of specific instances of the facilitation of networking, including introductions to colleagues, inclusion in discussions at scientific meetings, etc. REQUIRED
• Submission of funding proposal(s) to other funding agencies, including Alzheimer’s Association, National Institutes of Health or National Science Foundation, Medical Research Council (UK), Canadian Institutes of Health Research, etc. REQUIRED

Budget

A “budget summary” for the proposed research project is required and must be submitted with the application and within the allowable two-page limit. However, if the application is to be awarded, a more detailed budget will be required and must be approved before the disbursement of funds.

Allowable costs under this award

It is required that most of the funds awarded under this program be used for direct research support. No more than 10% of the total direct costs may be included as indirect costs; this is inclusive of indirect costs for the implementing institution as well as any to subcontracts.

Allowable costs include:

• Purchase and care of laboratory animals
• Small pieces of laboratory equipment and laboratory supplies 
• Purchases over $10,000 require prior approval, even if included in the project proposal budget
• Computer software if used strictly for data collection (requires prior approval)
• Salary for the principal investigator, scientific (including postdoctoral fellows) and technical staff (including laboratory technicians and administrative support directly related to the funded grant); there is no salary cap
• Membership to scientific association
• Professional development / communication training
• Training costs to visit and perform research related to the awarded project on another laboratory/facility (this is not to be included in the travel costs)
• Support for travel to scientific and professional meetings and additional support for travel expenses necessary to carry out research planned – this may include site visits. A total of $12,500 over a three year period may be requested for travel purposes and is not to exceed $7,000 in any given year and must include attendance to the annual Alzheimer’s Association International Conference (AAIC).
• Participant travel expenses for projects involving human participants is not included in the travel and is allowable expenses that can be captured under other expenses (itemized) in the budget.
• As part of Alzheimer’s Association ongoing efforts to develop programs that support family-friendly research environments, Alzheimer’s Association awardees can request up to $2,500 per budget period for childcare costs provided by a licensed childcare provider.

Direct costs not allowed under this award

Direct costs not allowed include:

• Computer hardware or standard software (e.g., Microsoft Office, mouse monitor, computer parts, AppleCare)
• Laboratory equipment such as freezers, ultracentrifuges, RT-PCR, Microscopy/imaging equipment
• Service contract fees of equipment
• Construction or renovation costs
• Tuition
• Rent for laboratory/office space
• Visa costs and fees
• Expenses such as Data Network Recharges and Computing and communication device support services. However, data sharing and/or data storage for imaging, sequencing and other study data is allowed.
• General liability insurances, such as GAEL
• Wire and currency exchange fees
• The Alzheimer’s Association Medical and Scientific Advisory Group (MSAG), the International Research Grant Program (IRGP) Council members and current employees of the Alzheimer’s Association are allowed to be key personnel or collaborators on projects, however they are NOT ALLOWED to receive any salary or compensation. A complete list of MSAG and IRGP Council members can be found on our .

Reporting requirements

Please see Section III, J: Reporting Requirements in the full program announcement for additional reporting details. This award requires:

• Annual scientific progress reports
• Annual Mentor evaluations (including tracking progress towards Fellowship benchmarks)
• Annual financial reports
• Annual reports on recruitment & retention efforts (if applicable)

Note: The continuation of the grant over the awarded duration is contingent upon the timely receipt of all required reports.

Additional information

Due to the nature of this grant being awarded to the Fellow, in large part to their uniquely tailored mentoring plan towards achieving specific professional goals, it is expected that the Fellowship will transfer with the Fellow to their future institution. This will be strictly adhered to and only in extreme circumstances will an exception be considered.

The Alzheimer's Association is pleased to partner with the Fred A. and Barbara M. Erb Family Foundation on this program. Based on the review process, one AACSF/AACSF-D awardee each cycle will be identified as the Alzheimer's Association Fred A. Erb Clinical Research Science Fellowship. This Alzheimer's Association Fred A. Erb Clinical Research Science Fellowship will include a small amount of additional funding over the course of the grant as well.

Contact information

For any inquires or additional information, please contact a member of the Alzheimer’s Association Research Grants Team at grantsapp@alz.org.