Alzheimer’s Disease Strategic Fund: Vascular Contributions to Cognitive Impairment and Dementia - Understanding Mechanisms of Dysfunction (VCID-UMD)
Forecasted
VCID-UMD supports collaborating researchers studying vascular dysfunction and its links to immune, lipid and endolysosomal functions to understand its contributions to Alzheimer’s and related dementias.
Funder: Alzheimer's Association
Due Dates (Anticipated): June 2027 (LOI) | September 2027 (Full application)
Funding Amounts: $150,000–$300,000 for up to 3 years; larger-team budgets may receive pre-approval
Summary: Supports collaborative mechanistic research on vascular dysfunction and its contributions to Alzheimer’s disease and related dementias.
Key Information: One primary PI per application; multiple-PI projects are not allowed.
Description
The Alzheimer’s Association’s VCID-UMD program supports innovative, high-risk, collaborative research through the Alzheimer’s Disease Strategic Fund. It seeks to explain how vascular contributions to cognitive impairment and dementia intersect with immune, lipid and endolysosomal functions in Alzheimer’s disease and related dementias.
Responsive work includes brain metabolism, blood-brain barrier dysfunction, neurovascular coupling, cerebral blood flow, waste clearance and vascular cell mechanisms contributing to amyloid aggregation or neuronal loss. Other priorities include vascular-immune crosstalk, lymphatic and glymphatic systems, APOE’s role in cerebral amyloid angiopathy and ARIA, and intersections with Lewy bodies or TDP-43 pathology. Projects may leverage existing datasets, develop early-stage biomarkers, or create imaging tools and experimental disease models. Multidisciplinary teams are welcome, but awards are structured as individual research grants administered through the recipient’s institution.
