Alzheimer's Disease

New strategy aims to enhance recruitment for Alzheimer's disease clinical studies

We’ve seen substantial expansion of our understanding of Alzheimer’s disease and related dementias in recent years. But we still have a long road to travel. One of the biggest hurdles in our path is recruitment and retention of participants in clinical studies for Alzheimer’s disease and other dementias.

Sharing the wealth to increase Alzheimer's research

How do we grow a field rapidly? That’s the question that drove us when we began receiving large increases in support for research on Alzheimer’s disease and its related disorders—a total of $1.3 billion across fiscal years 2014–2018. What are the quickest ways to ensure increasing numbers of high-quality applications...

NCRAD poised for major expansion

Infrastructure may seem like an odd word to use when thinking about research into Alzheimer’s disease. We want to see clinical trial results. We want answers on the basic mechanisms. We want prevention measures. And we want them all now! Infrastructure may seem less exciting, but it’s absolutely necessary to achieve our goals for research in Alzheimer’s disease. That’s why NIA has substantially increased the grant award to the Indiana University School of Medicine for the National Centralized Repository for Alzheimer’s Disease and Related Dementias (NCRAD).

Symposium celebrates open science, launches new data platform

It was great to see so many of you at the Alzheimer’s Association International Conference last month! I was thrilled to catch up with colleagues, attend the special events, and learn about many new Alzheimer’s research findings. In case you missed it, NIA and the Alzheimer’s Association hosted a pre-conference symposium: “Enabling Precision Medicine for Alzheimer’s Disease Through Open Science.”

Together we make the difference in Alzheimer's and related dementias research: NIH's FY 2020 bypass budget and progress report

On Monday, July 30, I presented, on behalf of NIH Director Dr. Francis Collins, the Fiscal Year 2020 NIH Professional Judgment Budget for Alzheimer’s Disease and Related Dementias at the meeting of the HHS Secretary’s Advisory Council on Alzheimer’s Research, Care, and Services. The estimate—commonly referred to as a Bypass Budget—is based on scientific opportunities that NIH could pursue to achieve the research goal of the National Plan to Address Alzheimer’s Disease—to prevent and effectively treat Alzheimer’s disease by 2025. 

Watch for NIA at AAIC in the Windy City!

NIA staff are gearing up for the annual Alzheimer’s Association International Conference (AAIC) 2018, taking place this year in Chicago, July 22-26. AAIC is dedicated to advancing dementia science, and we’re looking forward to attending alongside thousands from the Alzheimer’s community.

Yes! We mean NIA grantees too...

If we roll back the clock 12 months, we’ll see that, back then, NIA issued a call for administrative supplements for existing NIA grantees to add an aim on Alzheimer’s disease (and its related dementias) to a grant that was not already studying Alzheimer’s or its related dementias. This year, we decided to open the field up a little and include other NIH institutes.

Now is the time! NIA's small business programs offer up to $1.5 million in no-strings-attached funding

If you run a small business, are thinking of starting a small business, or have an idea focused on Alzheimer's disease and Alzheimer’s-related dementias (AD/ADRD) that has a commercial side, then this blog is for you! Whether your focus is therapeutic drug development, systems of care, effects on families, or something else, there are opportunities for you through our small business research and development programs – known as SBIR (Small Business Innovation Research) and STTR (Small Business Technology Transfer Research).

BSR seeks wins in a new arena: AD/ADRD

March Madness—a time for bracket busting and bragging rights, Cinderella stories and unexpected outcomes. And, so it goes in NIA-supported research, too! We in the Division of Behavioral and Social Research have been developing our game in new directions—funding more research in Alzheimer’s disease and Alzheimer’s disease-related dementias (AD/ADRD).

Seeking your ideas for ways to enhance recruitment and retention of Alzheimer's disease study participants

It’s hard to recruit people for clinical research these days. And that is doubly true if the topic is Alzheimer’s disease and its related dementias. Recruiting volunteer participants is a primary, persistent bottleneck that poses unique challenges to clinical trials researchers.