UC Davis Health
Alzheimer’s Disease Research Center

Award Opportunities for Scientists | Alzheimer’s Disease Research Center | UC Davis Health

Award Opportunities for Scientists

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Development Project Awards

The center has a competitive development project program and awards up to $100,000 each year. This program enables both new and established investigators to generate pilot data that can be used to advance Alzheimer’s research and enhance their ability to be competitive for extramural grants.

2026-27 UC Davis Alzheimer’s Disease Research Center Development Project Application Instructions

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Launch Your AD/ADRD Research with NIA Funding

Informational Webinar

Join UC Davis Alzheimer’s Disease Research Center Co-Directors, Charles DeCarli, M.D., and Rachel Whitmer, Ph.D., and 2025-2026 NIA Development Project funding recipient, Erkin Şeker, Ph.D., as they share their expertise and awardee experience related to the Development Project funding mechanism.

Thursday, February 26, 2026
12-1 p.m. (PST)

Register in advance for this meeting

After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the meeting. 
For more information, contact Anna Schmidt ( agschmidt@health.ucdavis.edu ).

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Past Webinar for 2025-2026

Please use the passcode Hc*AO8f3 to watch this video recording about the Development Awards and how to apply

Research Education Component (REC) Scholar Program


The UC Davis Alzheimer’s Disease Research Center’s (ADRC) Research Education Component offers funding to support junior investigators and those new to the field of Alzheimer’s disease research. The goal of the program is to support AD research training for clinicians and researchers who will advance research on cognitive decline, dementia, and AD over the coming decades. The UC Davis ADRC supports a broad range of disciplines and approaches such as basic science, neuropathology, brain imaging, clinical and cognitive science, and social sciences. This program provides a one-time stipend that may be used for Alzheimer's disease-related research expenses and/or travel to present at an Alzheimer's disease-related conference.

Applicants must be:

  • Graduate, postdoctoral, early career or new to field faculty
  • Participate in 1-2 years of focused research training (depending on year)
  • Provide an AD-related research project proposal, budget and budget justification
  • Attend and present at ADRC research meetings
  • Complete a progress report
  • Be a U.S. citizen or permanent resident

This program application is closed. For more information, please contact Oanh Meyer, Ph.D. at olmeyer@health.ucdavis.edu 

Meet Our Current REC Scholars
  • Alex Posis, Ph.D., M.P.H.

    Alex Posis, Ph.D., M.P.H.

    Alex Posis, Ph.D., M.P.H., is a Postdoctoral Scholar in the Department of Public Health Sciences at the University of California, Davis. Posis’s research interests include identifying social determinants and modifiable factors of brain health and cognitive aging. Prior to joining Rachel Whitmer's, Ph.D., lab, he earned his B.S. in Neuroscience from the University of California, Santa Cruz, M.P.H. in Epidemiology from San Diego State University, and Ph.D. in Public Health (Epidemiology) from the Joint Doctoral Program in Public Health at San Diego State University and University of California, San Diego.

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  • Michelle Cohn, Ph.D.

    Michelle Cohn, Ph.D.

    Michelle Cohn, Ph.D. is a Postdoctoral Scholar in the UC Davis Phonetics Lab, associated with the Department of Linguistics. She received her Ph.D. in Linguistics at UC Davis in 2018. Her postdoctoral training includes a 2.5 year Social, Behavioral, and Economics (SBE) Postdoctoral Fellowship through the National Science Foundation. From 2022 to 2024, Cohn was also a Visiting Researcher with the Google Responsible AI and Human-Centered Technologies group. Cohn’s research program aims to uncover the cognitive mechanisms that underlie how people produce, perceive, and learn speech patterns with voice technology. In 2024, she started as one of two REC Scholars at the UC Davis Alzheimer's Disease Research Center, working with Alyssa Weakley, Ph.D.

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