BrightFocus Foundation Receives $3.2 Million Grant for Alzheimer’s Research

CLARKSBURG, MD (Oct. 1, 2024)—Global brain and vision research nonprofit BrightFocus Foundation has received a $3.2 million grant from an anonymous foundation to support 12 new Alzheimer’s Disease Research grants over the next three years as part of its Innovative Seed Funding Program. 

“This funding helps promising ideas take root and grow into future clinical realities, giving hope to millions of individuals and families around the world,” said Stacy Pagos Haller, president and CEO of BrightFocus Foundation. 

Earlier in 2024, BrightFocus’ Alzheimer’s Disease Research program awarded $5.6 million to support 25 of the 37 new research projects recommended by the Alzheimer’s Disease Research Scientific Review Committee, comprising 34 of the most senior research scientists in the field. This generous additional funding will ensure that all studies recommended will be pursued. 

“These and other  BrightFocus-funded grants are supporting some of the best up-and-coming—as well as established—investigators working on Alzheimer’s disease in the world.  What is very hopeful is that many of the ideas being tested have both high risk but also high reward potential.  This gives me hope that some of the novel ideas and new areas of thinking will lead to new treatments,” said David Holtzman, MD, co-chair of the Alzheimer’s Disease Research Scientific Review Committee and a professor of neurology and director of the Alzheimer's Disease Research Center at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis.  

Grants focus on a range of novel and promising areas, including: 

• unraveling cancer-like metabolic changes in Alzheimer’s disease neurons to identify new intervention strategies,  
• investigating how jetlag and other disruptions to circadian rhythms affect amyloid plaques and tau buildup that occur in Alzheimer’s disease,  
• validating Alzheimer’s-specific biomarkers among rural-dwelling older adults to address the underrepresentation of this population in aging research, and 
• studying a Down syndrome-related gene that could contribute to increased Alzheimer’s risk in people with Down syndrome. 

“As in other areas of treatment for different diseases where a lot of progress has been made, such as in cancer, there are multiple examples where hitting different targets at the same time with certain combination therapies has led to a much bigger effect than hitting only one target.  I suspect the same thing with be true in Alzheimer’s disease.  This is why it’s important to invest in different approaches and targets,” Dr. Holtzman added. 

BrightFocus Foundation and its programs Alzheimer’s Disease Research, Macular Degeneration Research, and National Glaucoma Research receive no government funding and are supported entirely by voluntary private contributions from individuals, corporations, and foundations. Learn more about  how to support our work.  

The 12 new Alzheimer’s Disease Research projects are as follows:  
 

Decoding the Role of an Alzheimer’s Causal Gene in Distinct Brain Cell Types

Willem Annaert, PhD | Flemish Institute for Biotechnology (Belgium)

Treating Insomnia in Mild Cognitive Impairment

Peter Fried, PhD | Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center

Assessing the Impact of Blood-Brain Barrier Dysfunction in Alzheimer’s Disease

Joshna Gadhavi, PhD | Emory University
Mentor: Nicholas Seyfried, PhD

Defining the Impact of Cytokine Signaling in Alzheimer’s Disease

Dong Kyu Kim, PhD | University of California, San Francisco
Mentor: Anna Molofsky, MD, PhD

Targeting Brain Cell Miscommunication to Restore Memory in Alzheimer’s Disease

Amira Latif-Hernandez, PhD | Stanford University

Cancer-Like Metabolic Changes in Alzheimer's Disease Neurons

Jerome Mertens, PhD | University of California, San Diego

Exploring Rural Health Disparities in Alzheimer's Disease

Justin Miller, PhD | University of Washington School of Medicine

Regulation of Microglia Phenotypes in Alzheimer’s Disease

Johannes Schlachetzki, MD | University of California, San Diego

Circadian Rhythm Disruption and Alzheimer's Disease

Ashish Sharma, PhD, MPharm | Washington University in St. Louis
Mentor: Erik Musiek, MD, PhD

Dysregulated Astrocyte P38, Brain Inflammation, and Alzheimer’s Pathology

Linda Van Eldik, PhD | University of Kentucky Research Foundation

The Role of DYRK1A Kinase in Alzheimer’s Disease Microglia Differences

Frances Wiseman, PhD | University College London (UK)
Co-Principal Investigator: Selina Wray, PhD

Mechanisms of Inhibitory Neuron Vulnerability to Alzheimer’s Disease

Emiliano Zamponi, PhD | Columbia University
Mentor: Franck Polleux, PhD

About BrightFocus Foundation 

BrightFocus Foundation is a premier global nonprofit funder of research to defeat Alzheimer’s, macular degeneration, and glaucoma. Through its flagship research programs — Alzheimer’s Disease Research, Macular Degeneration Research, and National Glaucoma Research— the Foundation has awarded nearly $300 million in groundbreaking research funding over the past 51 years and shares the latest research findings, expert information, and resources to empower the millions impacted by these devastating diseases. Learn more at  brightfocus.org.    

 
Contact: 
 
Julia Roth, BrightFocus Foundation 
Jroth@brightfocus.org