Zenith Fellows Award Program Grant

The Zenith Fellows Award Program, initiated by the Alzheimer's Association, supports innovative research in Alzheimer's disease and related disorders. Each award, capped at $450,000 over three years, aims to tackle critical issues in early detection, treatment, and prevention. The program emphasizes basic biological research and clinical investigations, fostering a diverse range of scientific inquiry.

Two years after its founding, the fledgling organization funded its first research grant, awarding a total of about $80,000 to a handful of investigators. Since then, the Association has grown into the largest nonprofit funder of Alzheimer’s research.
Program objective
The Zenith Fellows Award was initiated in 1991 as a vehicle for donors with a substantial personal commitment to propel research in AD/ADRD research. The awards are made possible by the generosity of individuals and organizations (Zenith Society) who have each committed
$1 million to the Alzheimer’s Association in support of the program.
The objective of the 2026 Zenith Fellows Awards competition is to provide funding support for investigators who have:
The proposed research should address fundamental problems related to early detection, etiology, pathogenesis, treatment, or prevention of AD/ADRD. We seek proposals at the cutting edge of basic science or biomedicine that may challenge prevailing orthodoxy or not conform to traditional funding mechanisms, but which promise a sustained and positive impact on the future of AD/ADRD research.
Areas of focus
The Alzheimer’s Association supports a number of high priority areas that span the entire spectrum of science and have other programs throughout a given year, however, the Zenith Fellows program is unique in focusing specifically on biological studies and clinical investigations (excluding clinical trials). Innovative and novel ideas to address research challenges are the core of the Alzheimer’s Association's scientific program. The Alzheimer’s Association is committed to minimizing health disparities and increasing representation of all populations within research and clinical trials.
Basic biology: these are bench science projects involving in vitro or animal work pertaining to the causes of AD/ADRD; early and accurate detection and diagnosis; animal models; treatments; and prevention. Basic biology may also include computation studies, such as data mining for genes linked to risk, or other bioinformatic studies. Please note that in vitro work involving human samples falls into this category.
Clinical investigations (this is not applicable for clinical trials): projects in which the majority of data is derived directly from studies of human participants. Examples include studies that aim to evaluate potential therapeutic approaches; promising biomarkers; imaging technology; and possible risk factors including genetics, lifestyle, cardiovascular issues, diabetes, and metabolic factors. In vitro projects conducted with human samples should be categorized as basic biology rather than clinical investigations. Note that this definition of clinical investigation does not extend to clinical trials which will not be considered for funding under the Zenith program.
Funding and award period
We anticipate funding up to three Zenith Fellows Awards. Each award is limited to $450,000 total funding (direct and indirect costs) over a period of up to three years. Requests in any given year may not exceed $250,000 (direct and indirect costs). Additional details on allowable costs are outlined in the budget section below.