Early Career Investigator Awards 2019

Early Career Investigator Awards

2019 Early Career Investigator Award Recipients

Each year Alzheimer’s Los Angeles honors researchers early in their career. This award honors both the work they are currently doing and their potential to contribute significantly to the field in the future. The hope is that this award furthers their career as a researcher in the field. Below are the 4 honorees for the 2019 Early Career Award (formerly known as the Young Investigator’s Award). This year’s awards were made possible through the generosity of Helena Chui, MD.

Below are the 2019 award recipients (in alphabetical order):

Anakha Ajayan
USC

Blocking TGF-β-Smad 2/3 signaling in peripheral macrophages to mitigate Alzheimer’s disease pathology

Fumito Endo
UCLA, David Geffen School of Medicine

Roles of astrocytes in pathogenesis of Alzheimer’s disease

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Axel Montagne
USC

How genetics, vascular, environmental risk factors, and lifestyle can influence AD using ground-breaking magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scanners and methods in both human AD participants and transgenic mouse models of AD.

Melanie Sweeney
USC, Keck School of Medicine

Identify reliable bioElucidate biomarker changes associated with early stages of cognitive impairment and AD and to determine the impact of genetic risk factors

About the Award

Applications were sought from graduate students, post-doctoral fellows, and junior faculty affiliated with academic institutions in Los Angeles, Riverside, or San Bernardino Counties who are working in biomedical, clinical, or psychosocial research with a focus on Alzheimer’s or related dementias.

Awardees were selected by the Alzheimer’s Los Angeles Medical and Scientific Advisory Council. Candidates may self-nominate or be nominated by a faculty member/mentor. Entries will be evaluated based on relevance, innovation, impact on the disease, and scientific rigor.

Award recipients each received a $1,000 cash award

The applicants submitted the following documents, in this order, in a consolidated PDF file:

  • 400-word summary of current research activities

  • Written answers (2-5 sentences each) to the following questions:

    1. How does your research advance our ability to understand, manage or treat Alzheimer’s disease or related disorders?
    2. What is novel about your findings or the approach used?
    3. What steps have you taken to ensure that your data are solid and reliable?
    4. What exactly was your role in this project?

  • Letter of support from a mentor or academic advisor

  • Curriculum vitae, including a list of any publications

  • Reviewer recruitment list (names of 3 reviewers not from your institution, including their respective institution names, phone numbers, and email addresses)

  • One relevant manuscript (optional)

APPLICATION DEADLINE: The deadline to submit PDF applications was April 7, 2019

For more information about the award, visit our Alzheimer’s LA & Research page.

The 2019 awards were made possible through the generosity of Helena Chui, MD

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Published On: May 14th, 2019Categories: Programs & Services