Research Opportunities for Scientists

The Alzheimer’s Disease Research 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.

2025-26 UC Davis Alzheimer’s Disease Research Center Development Project Application Instructions

Watch this video recording about the Development Awards and how to apply

Please use the passcode ( Hc*AO8f3 ) to view the video.

The UC Davis ADRC provides investigators and research groups with well-characterized patients and control subjects, family information, brain tissue, biospecimens and data.  Requests for brain tissue or biospecimens can be submitted to Lee-Way Jin, M.D., Ph.D. at lwjin@ucdavis.edu or Brittany Dugger, Ph.D. at bndugger@ucdavis.edu.  Available biospecimens include DNA, Plasma, serum, RNA, and postmortem CSF from select subjects. 

Requests for the analysis of data can be submitted for the center’s data as well as program wide data thru the National Alzheimer’s Coordinating Center (NACC).  NACC serves as a repository for data collected at approximately 33 Alzheimer’s Disease Research Centers (ADRCs) throughout the U.S.  NACC maintains a cumulative database including clinical evaluations, neuropathology data when available, and MRI Imaging.  The NACC database comprises several standardized clinical and neuropathology data sets, all of which are freely available to the research community. Information about the available data can be found on their website under the investigator/researcher link (https://www.alz.washington.edu/). 

The Center has a strong biostatistical component through its collaboration with investigators from the UC Davis Department of Public Health Sciences.  Data Management Core Leader Danielle Harvey (djharvey@ucdavis.edu) is available to consult for data requests.

Investigators interested in basic research may contact Lee-Way Jin at lwjin@ucdavis.edu for assistance in evaluating the feasibility of the study protocol.

Investigators interested in clinical research may contact Martha Forloines at mrforloines@ucdavis.edu for assistance in evaluating the feasibility of the study protocol and information concerning IRB applications.

All requests (e.g., letters of support, data or biospecimen resources) should be submitted 12 weeks in advance of the investigator’s deadline to allow adequate time for review by the ADRC Executive Committee. 

Requests may be submitted using this survey

The UC Davis Alzheimer’s Disease Research Center’s Research Education Component offers funding up to $6,000 to support junior investigators and those new to the field of Alzheimer’s disease (AD) 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 up to $6,000 for a one time stipend that may be used for AD-related research expenses or a poster presentation at an AD-related conference.

Applicants must be:

• Graduate, postdoctoral, early career or new to field faculty
• Participate in one year of focused research training
• Provide an AD-related research project proposal, budget and budget justification
• Present at ADRC research meeting
• Complete a progress report
• Be a U.S. citizen and permanent resident

This program has rolling application deadlines. For more information, please contact Oanh Meyer, Ph.D. at olmeyer@ucdavis.edu

The Alzheimer’s Disease Research Center hosts two research meetings each month which provide a venue for those interested in obtaining feedback on research projects including works-in-progress. For those interested in attending or presenting at these virtual meetings, contact Anna G. Schmidt.