Alzheimer’s Association and NACC New Investigators Awards Program (NIAP)

Features of a successful New Investigator Project

Successful NIAPs must demonstrate scientific rigor. This will be determined through peer review; the peer-review process will evaluate the scientific merit and potential impact on the field of AD/ADRD. Areas of study are open across the entire spectrum of proposed research ongoing within the ADRC network, including but not limited to data-driven and methodological studies if they rely on credible data sources. The research studies may be discovery science, translational, clinical, or care-related and may include a range of methodologies, including health equity, genomic studies, and data science. 
Research proposals should advance AD/ADRD science through new approaches that have the potential to identify and characterize important gaps in knowledge. The program aims to foster innovative, impactful research that advances AD/ADRD understanding and treatment.

Research questions may be rooted in multiple disciplines, such as neuropathology, epidemiology, neurology, psychiatry, gerontology/aging, psychology, psychosocial, imaging/radiology, pharmacology, informatics, recruitment science, and data science/biostatistics. Projects may focus on, but are not limited to, studies on environmental exposures, social and structural determinants of health, psychosocial factors, recruitment science, biomarkers, disease mechanisms, or novel therapeutic approaches, among other relevant topics in AD/ADRD biomedical research.
 
Importantly, the research should provide novel insights into our understanding rather than replicating previous studies.

Data sources

New Investigator projects may leverage any data source or study base for their proposed study but must defend its scientific rigor to address their research questions. This includes secondary data analysis. NIAP proposals do not require the use of NACC data. However, proposals that include plans for the investigator to visit and/or collaborate across and between Alzheimer's Disease Research Centers (ADRCs) are strongly encouraged, including proposals based on CLARiTI (Clarity in Alzheimer’s Disease and Related Dementias Research Through Imaging).

Funding and award period

The partners will fund up to ten (10) awards, totaling $135,000 in direct costs for one to two years total for the 2025-2026 award cycle, with funds to be distributed from June 2025 through May 2027. For awards funded by the Alzheimer’s Association, the indirect rate will be restricted to 10% on top of the direct costs. Details regarding the budget and timeline are addressed in the Application section below.

Funding decisions will be made jointly by the NACC Steering Committee and the Alzheimer’s Association based on the scientific merit and potential impact as determined by peer review.

New investigators will have up to two years to complete their project.

For each application, the ADRC Director is expected to provide oversight of the NIAP award for the distribution of funds and/or expenditures. The partners will work with the ADRC institutional Grants Office on the appropriate reporting.

Key dates:

Launch of Program: October 7, 2024

Letter of Intent and Request a Mentor from the ADRC RECs Deadline*: November 8, 2024, 5 p.m. ET

Application Deadline*: January 16, 2025, 5 p.m. ET

Application Review: January – April 2025

Award Notifications: May 2025 

*The Request for a Mentor, Letter of Intent, and Application must be received by 5 p.m. ET on their respective deadlines.

Eligibility

• Applicants must be new investigators affiliated with an ADRC and must have a pre-existing affiliation with an Alzheimer's Disease Research Center (ADRC). You must be a new investigator. For the purposes of this award, a researcher must meet the following criteria to be eligible for this funding program, no exceptions:
• A postdoctoral fellow, resident, or junior faculty member who has not yet received an R01 grant from the National Institutes of Health.
• Have not been promoted beyond assistant professor rank (MD or PhD). Researchers with academic ranks higher or lower than those specified are not eligible to apply.
• Are within 10 years of their terminal degree. Exceptions to this 10-year limit may be considered for applicants who have experienced career disruptions. Such disruptions may include, but are not limited to, family care responsibilities, military service, severe illness or medical conditions, disability, or clinical training. Applicants requesting consideration under this exception must clearly explain the circumstances in their application.
• Has not been awarded a New Investigator Award Program award previously.
• Candidates are expected to have a minimum of 10-20% of their position dedicated to the proposed research project.
• For questions or clarifications of eligibility, potential applicants should email grantsapp@alz.org.

You must be affiliated with an ADRC. Affiliation is defined by individual ADRCs at the discretion of each ADRC Director and varies across the ADRC Program. Affiliation is inclusive of the examples below. To qualify, applicants must have a letter from their ADRC Director confirming the following:
 

• The applicant is affiliated with the ADRC. Additionally, they must confirm that this affiliation was established before October 2024 and is ongoing.
• The specific nature of the affiliation is at the ADRC Director's discretion, and should be noted in the letter, and may include but is not limited to the following:
  • Holding a formal position at the ADRC
  • Active engagement in ADRC activities
  • Receiving or being eligible to receive a salary from the ADRC
  • Working in an ADRC-affiliated laboratory, a faculty member, or a clinician
  • Being a postdoctoral researcher contributing to ADRC-funded research
• The Director does not need to specify which criteria are met, only that the applicant is considered affiliated with the ADRC.
• The letter must also confirm that the ADRC can manage and disburse the New Investigator Award funds to the winner via the ADRC’s existing subcontract with NACC.   

A Director’s letter template is provided in the online application materials.

If you are not eligible for this award, we encourage you to apply for other funding mechanisms, such as an RO3 Award and other funding mechanisms of the Alzheimer’s Association (alz.org/grants).
 

Apply for a New Investigator Award

For instructions on how to apply, including submitting a Letter of Intent, requesting a mentor, writing a research plan, and more, please download the grant RFA. 
 

Review process overview

Proposals undergo a thorough, multi-stage review to assess scientific and technical merit. This process is facilitated by the online system ProposalCentral and involves multiple organizations and committees, including NACC, the Alzheimer's Association, and NACC’s Scientific Review Committee (SRC). All reviews will be conducted by the Scientific Review Committee.

For the 2025 NIAP cycle, proposals will be evaluated and scored based on criteria relevant to both social/behavioral and biomedical aspects of AD/ADRD research. This approach ensures a comprehensive assessment of each proposal while maintaining consistent evaluation standards across the spectrum of AD/ADRD research methodologies and focuses. The review process has been designed to accommodate the diverse nature of AD/ADRD research, recognizing the importance of both social/behavioral and biomedical contributions to the field.

Review criteria:

All applications will be evaluated based on the following criteria:
 

• Overall Impact: The potential for the project to significantly influence relevant research fields.
• Significance: The importance of the project.
• Investigator(s): The qualifications of the research team.
• Innovation: The novelty of the research and/or methods.
• Approach: The overall scientific strategy, methodology, and analyses.
• Environment: The adequacy of the research setting.
• Budget & Resources: Quality and suitability of the proposed budget and resources.

Additional criteria:
 

• Protections for Human Subjects           
• Inclusion of underrepresented populations, including racial, ethnic, gender/sex, and other populations
• Vertebrate Animals
• Biohazards

Review stages (for full applications):

First Stage: NACC and the Alzheimer’s Association review applications for eligibility and completeness. Once an application is approved, NACC and the Alzheimer’s Association will assign it to one of two review committees: biomedical or psycho/social review panels, based on the proposed research.

Second Stage: The NACC Scientific Review Committee (SRC) evaluates applications through Proposal Central, including:
 

• A panel of at least three peer scientists with relevant expertise to the subject of the project submitted.
• Written commentary and scores (using NIH scale) from reviewers.
• Evaluation based on the criteria noted above.

Third Stage: Review Selection and Full Panel Discussion NACC and the Alzheimer's Association will review the SRC evaluations and scores to determine a cut point for the top applications. Applications above this cut point will be selected for discussion by the full review panel. The full panel will engage in a thorough discussion of each selected application. The Committee's evaluation centers on the criteria noted above.

Overall Impact: Following the discussion in the SRC meeting, Committee members with no conflicts of interest will collectively rank the applications. This ranking reflects the Committee’s assessment of each project’s potential to significantly advance its relevant research field. The ranking process incorporates all review criteria and any additional factors specific to each project. This method facilitates a comparative evaluation of applications within each focused area, identifying proposals with the highest potential for scientific impact and contribution to the field.

Note: Applications that initially score below the median may not be discussed during the committee meeting and will be marked 'unscored.' However, written reviews for these applications will still be returned to the applicant.

Final Approval: NACC and the Alzheimer's Association will review the Scientific Review Committee's (SRC) final impact scores and review summaries. Based on these scores and rankings, NACC and the Alzheimer’s Association formulate recommendations, which are then forwarded to the NACC Steering Committee and the Alzheimer’s Association Medical & Scientific Advisory Group for final approval. This rigorous, multi-level review ensures fair and scientifically sound award decisions.

Once finalists are identified, NACC and the Alzheimer’s Association will contact the ADRC and the New Investigator to finalize the award details, including award amounts. At that time, NACC and the Alzheimer's Association will also provide a list of required documents—such as “Just in Time” information, PHS 398 Cover, and budget page. 
 

Post award information

ETHICAL/REGULATORY APPROVALS & REPORTING REQUIREMENTS
If awarded funding, NACC and the Alzheimer’s Association require any necessary ethical and/or regulatory approvals to be kept current and may also require specific reporting throughout the lifetime of the Award. This includes, but is not limited to, the following: 

Ethical/Regulatory Assurances
Animal welfare and human subject assurances are not required at the time of application. Investigators have until their chosen start date to submit these documents, provided the start date is within 6 months from award notification. However, the Alzheimer’s Association and NACC encourage investigators to initiate their certification applications on a schedule, recognizing that rDNA certification IRB/IACUC approval at many institutions can take more than 90 days. The Alzheimer’s Association and NACC only accept certifications that apply specifically to the funded project and must include the name of the awardee.

For post-doctoral researchers, if the Ethical certification is in the mentor’s name, the post-doctoral researcher must include the Ethical approval and a signed letter stating that the ethical approval (rDNA certification, IRB/IACUC approval) covers the awarded project with the post-doctoral researcher name and Award number included.

Annual Scientific and Financial Reports 
Annual Scientific and Financial Reports must be submitted at the end of each reporting period as long as the grant remains active. Final Scientific and Financial Reports must be filed within 90 days of the grant end date. All reports must be submitted electronically via ProposalCentral Central. The Financial Report must be approved and signed by someone with financial authority in the Office of Research and Sponsored Programs at the recipient’s institution.  

Publications, Presentations, and Abstracts 
Electronic copies of publications, presentations, and abstracts that report research supported by funds from NACC and Alzheimer’s Association must be submitted electronically at the time of publication. These copies will become part of the official file of the grant and will be provided to the Communications Division of the Alzheimer’s Association and NACC to assist in the efforts to further inform the public about the Research Grant Program of the Alzheimer's Association, NACC’s New Investigator Award Program, and the Alzheimer’s Disease Research Center Program.   

Recruitment Efforts for Clinical Studies
If your project involves human participants, your application must clearly describe your inclusion and exclusion criteria and your efforts to recruit a diverse participant pool from the community where the study takes place.

Upon awarding and before fund disbursement, if your research project includes recruitment of participants, you will need to submit a detailed recruitment plan. This should outline how you'll ensure diversity across key demographic variables, such as sex, gender identity, sexual orientation, socioeconomic status, race, and ethnicity.

These diversity and inclusion goals will be a key focus in the grant's ongoing reporting requirements. Continued funding depends on your success in meeting these objectives.
 

Additional information

Financial Responsibility
Funding is awarded to the institution of the ADRC, not to the individual principal investigator. The principal investigator or a first-degree relative cannot be listed as the signing official or financial officer or have checks sent to their attention if awarded. 

Multiple and Overlapping Submissions
Multiple submissions from one applicant are not permitted. This includes multiple submissions from the same group and/or collaborators. Applicants who are awarded under the New Investigator Award Program can’t reapply to the New Investigator Award Program.

Nondiscrimination and Harassment Statement
NACC and the Alzheimer’s Association are committed to providing an environment free from harassment and discrimination. NACC and the Alzheimer’s Association strictly prohibit harassment and discrimination based on race; creed; color; religion; sex; sexual orientation; national origin; ancestry; age; veteran status; citizenship status; marital status; physical or mental disabilities; pregnancy, gender identity or expression (including transgender status); genetic information; and any other characteristic protected by federal, state or local law. 

For more information about the NIAP grant program, please contact the Alzheimer’s Association at grantsapp@alz.org or visit the NACC website.