Since 2005, AFTD has funded early-stage FTD researchers with Pilot Grants. These grants provide seed funding for novel research in the initial phase of development across the full spectrum of FTD disorders. Pilot Grants advance the careers of new investigators focused on FTD and generate data that will be the basis for follow-on funding applications to government funders or other public or private agencies.

AFTD currently funds two types of Pilot Grants:

The Well-Being in FTD Pilot Grant supports an innovative research project focused on a nonpharmacological intervention(s) that improves daily quality of life for persons with FTD and their families, mitigates caregiver burden, or advances person-centered approaches to FTD care in community or residential settings. One grant is available in 2021, with notification in Feb. 2022 and funding to begin in Spring 2022. This grant provides up to $60,000 (USD) to cover direct costs only. (Download the RFP for additional eligibility details here.)

The Pathways for Hope Pilot Grants support innovative basic science and translational FTD research by early-career investigators. Two Pathway for Hope Pilot Grants will be awarded in 2021 across basic and translational sciences, with notifications in Feb. 2022 and award start dates in Spring 2022. Each grant provides up to $60,000 (USD) for one year to cover direct costs only. (Download the RFP for additional eligibility details here.)

Past AFTD Pilot Grant recipients include Dr. Todd J. Cohen, assistant professor of neuroscience research at the University of North Carolina (UNC) at Chapel Hill. Dr. Cohen, who heads The Cohen Lab at UNC, began his FTD research career when he received AFTD’s first Postdoctoral Fellowship in 2009; he was later awarded the Basic Science Pilot Grant in 2017 to develop new animal models of FTD caused by mutant tau proteins.

To submit an application for the 2021 AFTD Pilot Grants, visit the AFTD Submissions Portal here. Click here to download instructions on how to apply for an AFTD Pilot Grant.