Funder: McKnight Foundation
Due Dates (Anticipated): October 2027 (Application deadline, projected)
Funding Amounts: Up to four awards of $300,000 over three years ($100,000 annually)
Summary: Supports independent investigators connecting basic research on brain injury and disease mechanisms to diagnosis, prevention, treatment, or cure.
Key Information: Applicants and all co-PIs must be independent investigators at U.S. nonprofit research institutions with at least three years in tenured or tenure-track faculty positions.
Description
The McKnight Neurobiology of Brain Disorders Award is administered by the McKnight Endowment Fund for Neuroscience, an independent organization funded solely by the McKnight Foundation. It supports research connecting a defined clinical problem with knowledge and experience gained through basic research, with the goal of advancing diagnosis, prevention, treatment, or cure of neurological and psychiatric disorders.
The program welcomes mechanistic studies at synaptic, cellular, molecular, genetic, and behavioral levels, including research involving humans and vertebrate or invertebrate models. Priorities include novel or disruptive approaches, potential therapeutic interventions, and environmental contributions to brain disorders, including early-life environmental and social stress. Collaborative and cross-disciplinary applications are encouraged. Applicants must also explain how their laboratories ensure that all members feel valued and supported.
