ARUK Clinical Research Award

The award is designed to enable high-quality experimental and clinical research that generates the biological and clinical evidence needed to progress promising therapies toward larger-scale trials and real-world impact. The scheme is a key component of our Clinical Accelerator Programme, which aims to speed up the development and testing of potential treatments, and to bring more clinical trials to the UK for people living with or likely to develop dementia.

Through this award, applicants may request support for investigator-led Experimental Medicine Studies (including phase 1b/2a clinical trials) and added value sub-studies across all phases of clinical trial. This flexible structure allows researchers to design projects that address specific scientific and clinical needs, from establishing or utilising valuable biological resources to delivering early-phase investigator-led clinical trials.

The scheme aligns with Alzheimer’s Research UK’s strategic focus on developing both treatments and preventative interventions for dementia, including innovative ‘interception’ approaches to stop progression in individuals at increased risk of dementia.

What we aim to support

As the UK’s leading dementia research charity, ARUK strategic priorities focus on treatment, diagnosis and prevention (Our research strategy – Alzheimer’s Research UK). The Clinical Research Award supports research that accelerates therapeutic development and strengthens the dementia clinical trials landscape.

We welcome proposals that advance interventional experimental medicine studies including early-phase (1b/2a) clinical trials in people living with or likely to develop dementia, designed to de-risk future later-phase trials. These studies should integrate biological investigation with clinical intervention, and may evaluate (including, but not limited to) target engagement, brain penetrance, and effects on disease biomarkers.

Applications that link biomarker advances with therapeutic testing are welcomed, including where biomarkers can help identify the most appropriate populations for interventions and serve as tools for recruitment stratification.

Proposals that incorporate sub-studies or added-value components across any phase of a clinical trial are also encouraged, particularly those that generate mechanistic insight through biomarkers, imaging, or digital measures. Proposals that facilitate data sharing, harmonisation, and integration across studies, enabling circular translation between discovery science and clinical research, are also strongly welcomed.

The scheme particularly values bringing together expertise from across academia, clinical practice, industry, and patient communities.

Proposals appropriate for this scheme

Experimental Medicine Studies

Experimental Medicine Studies, including early-phase interventional trials, designed to determine whether potential therapies engage their intended targets and produce measurable biological effects are eligible.

Projects funded in this area should integrate mechanistic science with clinical investigation, using biomarkers or other measures to evaluate therapeutic hypotheses. These studies are expected to generate the critical evidence needed to determine whether a therapy should progress toward later-phase trials.

Proposals that strengthen collaboration between basic biology researchers, clinician scientists, clinical trialists, and industry are particularly encouraged.

Clinical Trial Sub-studies

Recognising that large-scale, late-phase trials often require multiple sources of support, Alzheimer’s Research UK may provide part-funding for larger scale clinical trials through sub-studies or added-value components, enabling promising therapies to advance through collaborative funding arrangements with other charities, funders, academic institutions, or industry partners. If this applies to you, please contact us to discuss.

Clinical Trial Sub-studies may include:

• Trial development activities, helping researchers design robust and feasible trials that can attract additional investment and progress toward implementation.
• Applications that contribute to coordinated biobanking strategies and maximise the long-term scientific value of trials. Standalone sample collections must be unique, and hypothesis driven.
• Coordinated collection and management of high-value data generated through clinical research, such as, imaging data, digital measures, or other data from trial participants, as well as long-term follow-up activities. Where appropriate, researchers should outline plans for data and sample sharing, enabling collected resources to benefit the wider dementia research community.

Proposals that would not be appropriate for this scheme

Please note that this scheme does not support standalone late-phase clinical trial proposals. Please see the FAQ section in this page for more information.

Proposals focusing on biomarker development, pre-clinical biomarker testing, biological mechanisms or other non-clinical research may be more suitable for our Pilot Projects and Major Projects schemes.