Development Project in Aging and Alzheimer’s Disease Research 2025
Introduction:
The Northwestern Alzheimer’s Disease Research Center (Northwestern ADRC; P30AG072977) is funded by the National Institute on Aging, and, as part of its program, offers competitive funding for Development Projects Awards in Aging and Alzheimer’s Disease and Related Diseases Research.
Eligibility:
The proposed research project must be relevant to clinical or basic research on Alzheimer’s disease and related disorders, or cognitive aging. Frontotemporal lobar degeneration, primary progressive aphasia and unusually successful brain aging (SuperAging) are additional areas of emphasis. Preference will be given to projects that utilize participants, biospecimens, and data from The Northwestern ADRC, as well as datasets from NACC and ADNI. To learn more about our potential resources and collaborative request process please click here. The principal investigator must hold a faculty appointment, or be a postdoctoral fellow at Northwestern University. Students and residents are not eligible to be the principal applicant.
Amount and Duration:
Development Project Awards offer two years of support for $75,000 annually. An investigator will be eligible only once for Development Project Award support unless a convincing case is made that the new proposal constitutes a significant departure from the previously funded Development Project.
NOTE: Northwestern ADRC; P30AG072977 is funded through June 30, 2026. A competing renewal application for grant years 31-35 will be submitted. Development Project Year 2 funding depends on a successful renewal.
Application Deadline:
Applications are due March 1, 2025. Formal IRB or ACUC approval will be required before projects can begin.
Application Format: (*Please note PHS398 (Rev. 3/2020) must be used; text must be in Arial 11 pt font) Applications should be submitted electronically at the review stage. You do not need to submit your application to SR. Once proposals are chosen, applicable signatures from the PI and the Office of Sponsored Research at Northwestern University will be required.
Applications must adhere to all NIH formatting guidelines for R21 applications. Please include:
1. Face Page (form page 1)
2. Project Summary, Relevance, Performance Site, and Key Personnel (form page 2)
3. Detailed Budget for two 12‐month periods (form pages 4 & 5). Project PIs are required to have effort whether directly charged or cost‐shared.
4. Budget Justification
5. Biographical Sketches (NIH‐style for keypersonnel)
6. Other Support (specify any potential overlap)
7. Resources and Environment (relevant to the development project)
8. Research Plan: Specific Aims (1 page), Background & Significance, Innovation, Research Design & Methods (5 pages), Literature Cited
9. Human Subjects or Vertebrate Animals (as applicable
**FOR POSTDOCTORAL FELLOWS ONLY: You must also include with your application a letter from your Mentor supporting the application and confirming the time and resource commitment. You cannot hold a National Service Research Award (NRSA) or NIH training grant appointment and a Development Project simultaneously.
Electronic versions of the form pages can be downloaded at: http://grants.nih.gov/grants/funding/phs398/phs398.html
Target categories for support:
Junior investigators, who require initial support in order to obtain feasibility data for future R01‐type applications.
Established investigators (testing a new hypothesis or methodology that is not an extension of ongoing research or is a high‐risk new project not currently supported by their current grant support)
Established investigators (testing a new hypothesis or methodology that is not an extension of ongoing research or is a high‐risk new project not currently supported by their current grant support)
Established investigators in other fields (who wish to bring novel approaches to AD/dementia/aging research)
Note: Preference will be given to junior investigators.
Review Criteria:
1. Significance to the field/Innovation
2. Scientific merit and experimental design
3. Use of subjects, data, and/or tissue from the Clinical, Data, Imaging, and/or Neuropathology Cores of the Northwestern Alzheimer’s Disease Research Center
4. Use of NACC and ADNI data from parent projects at the Center (To learn more about or collaborative request process click here).
5. Appropriateness of proposed research time schedule
6. Appropriateness of proposed budget
7. Probability that the development project will lead to independent funding/Return on Investment
Key Dates:
January 5, 2025 – Applications open
March 1, 2025 – Applications due
May 1, 2025 – Awards announced
July 1, 2025 – Project begins
Reporting Requirements:
Grantees will be required to summarize their research progress in April 2026 & April 2027. A final research and expenditures report will be required in August 2027. Development Grant awardees will be expected to present a poster summarizing their grant progress during Alzheimer’s Day in May 2026 & 2027, as well as a presentation in the Alzheimer’s Disease Seminar Series (date TBD). Investigators should acknowledge Northwestern Alzheimer’s Disease Research Center support and grant number P30AG072977 on any publications resulting from Development Project Award support.
Questions regarding the Development Grant program or the application process can be directed to:
John Disterhoft, PhD, jdisterhoft@northwestern.edu