Ralph L. Sacco Scholarships in Brain Health Grant

Ralph L. Sacco Scholarships in Brain Health Grant

Status: ACTIVE
Funder: American Heart Association
Amount: US $75,000 - US $150,000
Last Updated: December 03, 2025

Summary

The Ralph L. Sacco Scholarships in Brain Health aim to support innovative research projects focused on brain health prevention across the lifespan, encouraging health equity, diversity, and inclusion. This funding, derived from Dr. Sacco's bequest, provides structured mentorship and resources for postdoctoral trainees to foster their professional development. Each awardee, guided by an experienced mentor, will contribute to advancing knowledge in areas such as cognitive function, mental well-being, and neurological disorders, culminating in annual gatherings to share findings and experiences.

Overview

Ralph L. Sacco Scholarships in Brain Health Projects eligible for this cycle of funding should focus on prevention. The program's scope of brain health emphasizes preventive approaches across the lifespan and encompasses a wide range of areas, including healthy brain development and aging; attaining and maintaining optimal cognitive function and mental well-being; cognitive aging, decline, and dementia; and primordial, primary and secondary prevention of neurological and mental health disorders. Scientific domains eligible for funding include translational, clinical, and population sciences. The following areas are examples of areas of interest: epidemiology, health services research, community awareness and education, psychiatry, mental health and well-being, pediatrics, and adverse childhood experiences. Projects may apply to any age of the lifespan, from fetal/childhood development to adulthood and late life. We strongly encourage projects that prioritize health equity, diversity, and inclusion, as inspired by Dr. Sacco’s lifelong work in this area and aligning with our organizational commitments to advance these crucial values in brain health research and practice. Research projects should be hypothesis-driven, with clear objectives and testable hypotheses related to brain health. In addition, the proposal should outline a comprehensive training plan, tailored to the trainee's career level, demonstrating how this mentored project will contribute to their professional development and establishing their career in brain health. Each candidate must be supported by a primary mentor with appropriate expertise to guide them through the project. Mentors should possess doctoral or equivalent level training and hold a faculty or staff appointment at the sponsoring institution. The funding for the Sacco Scholars Program is derived from funds created by a generous bequest from Dr. Ralph L. Sacco. The AAN and AHA will collaboratively establish the number of scholarships to be awarded each year. A joint committee comprised of leaders and representatives from both organizations will oversee the proposal process and select deserving recipients annually. In addition to the scholarship awards, the funds will also support annual gatherings during national meetings of the AAN and AHA, such as the AAN Annual Meeting and the AHA’s International Stroke Conference. These gatherings will bring together the current and former Sacco Scholars to present their research findings, engage in discussions on career development, and network with esteemed members of the joint committee and other influential leaders in the field of brain health. These gatherings will provide an enduring framework for the Sacco Scholars community, with the goal of advancing the field of brain health. The inclusion of Lawrence Brass Clinical Research Training Scholarship awardees in these gatherings will foster collaboration and shared knowledge, honoring the legacies of both Dr. Ralph L. Sacco and Dr. Lawrence Brass, who both made significant contributions to their fields before passing away at a young age from cancer. Purpose To enhance the training of postdoctoral trainees who are not yet independent. To ensure success, the applicant must have access to the institutional environment, support, and relevant scientific guidance of a primary research mentor appropriate for the level of trainee’s career development. Recognizing the unique challenges that clinicians, in particular, experience in balancing research and clinical activity, this award mechanism aims to be as flexible as possible to enable applicants to develop academic careers in research alongside fulfilling clinical service commitments. The trainee and mentor should work collaboratively to develop a thoughtfully planned, systematic proposal aimed at clearly answering an investigative question in brain health research (5-page limit). The applicant must have primary responsibility for the writing and the preparation of the proposal, understanding that the mentor will play a significant part in providing guidance to the applicant. Because the fellow receives only a stipend from the award, additional monetary support for the proposed work MUST come from the mentor's laboratory. Therefore, the proposal will likely be related to the mentor's currently funded work. The mentor should clarify the role the applicant played in developing the proposal, the relationship of the proposal to ongoing work in the mentor's laboratory, and how the proposal will contribute toward the training and career development of the applicant. A new fellow may not have had adequate time to generate preliminary data; therefore, applicants may present preliminary data generated by the mentor. The assessment of preliminary data, whether generated by the mentor or the applicant, should be put into perspective so that bold new ideas and risk taking by beginning investigators are encouraged rather than stymied. Submission of a proposal to the AHA/AAN with identical or significantly similar content as a submission by another investigator is prohibited. Also, the submission of a proposal to the AHA/AAN with identical or significantly similar content from a mentor to a grant program or his/her fellow to another fellowship program is prohibited. In such cases, both proposals may be removed from funding consideration. If a separate grant proposal is submitted by the mentor of a fellowship applicant, both applications may be funded if there is no duplication of aims. Annual Stipend $65,000 per year for two years A portion of the stipend may be used to cover some of the cost of health insurance. Project Support $10,000 per year, in addition to the stipend No limit on any line item (computer, equipment, lab supplies, travel, etc.)

Eligibility

You can learn more about this opportunity by visiting the funder's website. At the time of award activation, the applicant must hold a post-baccalaureate PhD degree or equivalent, or a doctoral-level clinical degree such as MD, DO, DVM, PharmD, DDS, DrPH, or PhD in nursing, public health or other clinical health science.At the time of award activation, the applicant may have had no more than five years of research training or experience since obtaining a post-baccalaureate doctoral-level degree (excluding clinical training). The awardee will be expected to devote at least 80 percent of full-time work either to research or to activities pursuant to independent research (instead of administrative or clinical duties that are not an integral part of the research training program, or teaching responsibilities).Except for US citizens and permanent residents, awardees must maintain an accepted visa throughout the duration of the award.

Ineligibility

This award is not intended for individuals of faculty rank.MD or MD/PhD with clinical responsibilities who needs instructor or similar title to see patients, but who will devote at least 80% full-time to research training. RN/PhD with a clinical appointment. The awardee will be expected to devote his/her time to research, or activities directly related to development into an independent researcher. All other eligibility criteria apply.