Pathways for Hope Pilot Grant

Program Status: Active

Geographic Scope: Not specified; appears to be open to researchers internationally

Focus Areas:

• Early-career researchers
• New research ideas in FTD
• Studies on genetic factors influencing FTD onset and resilience
• Research on protein pathology and biomarkers
• Studies across FTD subtypes (behavioral variant FTD, primary progressive aphasia, FTD-ALS, progressive supranuclear palsy, corticobasal syndrome)

Overview:
The Pathways for Hope Pilot Grant is part of AFTD's long-standing Pilot Grant program, which has been operating for 20 years (since 2005). This grant provides seed funding to help early-career researchers and those exploring new ideas generate preliminary data and secure larger funding. The program has demonstrated strong success, with between 2005 and 2016 generating an estimated $7.53 million in follow-on federal funding from initial $955,000 in disbursements.

Track Record:

• Over 20 years, the program has funded $2.8 million in innovative FTD research
• Recipients have gone on to secure NIH funding and other major grants
• Grantees have launched successful clinical trials (e.g., Communication Bridge for PPA)
• Many recipients maintain long-term relationships with AFTD and serve on review committees

2025 Recipients:

• Cyril Pottier, PhD (Washington University) - studying genetic factors influencing FTD onset and resilience in people with progranulin variants
• Indira García Cordero, PhD (San Andres University, Argentina) - studying white matter changes in behavioral variant FTD across regions of Latin America and North America

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