Pilot Grant Program

We established a pilot grant program to encourage research using FHS-BAP data by early stage investigators (including post-doctoral associates and faculty at the instructor and assistant professor levels) already working within the AD and brain aging field, and by experienced investigators working in other research areas who want to obtain preliminary results for a novel brain aging and AD-related research idea using FHS data.

Every year we solicit proposals from the BU research community focusing on genetic, genomic, biomarker, epidemiological, behavioral, brain imaging, ethical, health systems or other research in AD, AD-related disorders, and brain aging. Proposed research must include a major component involving analysis of existing FHS data.

In 2024, two applicants received funding:

Matteo Bellitti, PhD, Postdoctoral Associate in the Boston University, Department of Medicine, Section of Computational Biomedicine. His project is entitled, “Digital Sleep Measures for the Assessment of Prodromal Alzheimer’s Disease”

Lei Hou, PhD, Assitant Professor in the Boston University, Department of Medicine, Section of Biomedical Genetics. His project is entitled, “Study Gene-Cardiovascular-Factors Interplay in Alzheimer’s Disease with Omics Data in FHS”

Ruija Chen, ScD, Postdoctoral Associate in the Boston University School of Public Health, Department of Epidemiology. Her project is entitled, “Disparities In Dementia Risk, Brain Imaging, and Neuropathology by Socioeconomic Status: Elucidating Life Course Processes and Cardiometabolic Pathways”

All FHS-BAP Pilot Grant Program Recipients