The Alzheimer’s Association has opened letters of intent for its Part the Cloud Translational Research Funding suite. Since 2012, Part the Cloud has existed to get promising treatments for Alzheimer’s disease and related dementias out of the laboratory and into people, funding the early human studies that other funders tend to pass over. This round runs three tracks, covering early phase clinical trials, AI-discovered drug candidates and combination therapies.
Letters of intent close at 5pm US Eastern time (10pm UK time) on 20 October 2026. ISTAART members get two extra days, until 22 October. Invited full applications are due on 15 December 2026 (17 December for ISTAART members), and awards will be announced by 15 March 2027.
The three tracks
Phase 1 and Phase 2 Clinical Studies
The core Part the Cloud programme funds early stage human trials of novel or repurposed drugs. A project can be a lead candidate ready for first-in-human (Phase 1) testing, a therapy with existing human safety data that needs a small proof of mechanism study, a Phase 1 or small Phase 2a study of a repurposed drug, or a proof of concept study to validate biomarkers of disease progression within a trial. In some cases a Phase 3 study is also eligible.
Primary outcomes should fit the phase: safety, tolerability, pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamics, brain penetration, target engagement or proof of mechanism. Efficacy can be exploratory but should not be the primary outcome at Phase 1 or 2, and every application needs clear, measurable go/no-go criteria for the next stage of development. Studies with results that justify going further may be eligible to work with the Alzheimer’s Clinical Trials Consortium on a follow-on application to the US National Institute on Aging.
Awards are worth up to $1 million (direct and indirect costs) over two to three years.
Combination Therapies Program (PTC-CTP)
This track supports Phase 1 to 3 trials that combine at least two therapeutic approaches. Drug-drug, drug plus behavioural intervention and drug plus device combinations are all allowed, provided the rationale is rigorously justified (devices must be clinically validated and have regulatory approval or equivalent). Priority goes to proposals that test complementary mechanisms with a strong biological rationale, use biomarker-based inclusion criteria and biomarker outcomes to show target engagement, and set out how anti-amyloid monoclonal antibodies fit into the design, whether as part of the regimen, background therapy, a comparator, or excluded with justification. Cognition is strongly discouraged as the primary outcome.
Phase 2 and 3 awards are worth up to $2 million over two to three years (up to $3 million in rare cases). Phase 1 projects are capped at $1 million.
Enable the Molecule for AI-Discovered Programs (PTC-EM-AI)
The newest track is aimed at therapeutic candidates identified through artificial intelligence that are ready to move towards IND-enabling studies, the preclinical package of pharmacology, toxicology, formulation and manufacturing work a regulator needs to see before first-in-human testing. The Association’s page for this track had not been updated with this round’s award size and requirements at the time of writing, so check the RFA carefully before you start. For background on where AI is already making a difference, read our blog on enhancing dementia drug discovery with AI.
Who can apply
- Applicants must hold a full-time position equivalent to Assistant Professor or above (roughly lecturer level or above in the UK). Postdoctoral fellows cannot lead an application but can be named as key personnel. Students and temporary, part-time or acting staff are not eligible.
- Only one principal investigator is allowed per application, although collaborators can be included.
- Universities, hospitals, medical centres and research laboratories can apply, as can small for-profit companies. Government-appropriated laboratories cannot be the applicant institution.
- International applicants are encouraged to apply.
- You can submit only one proposal across all the programmes in the Alzheimer’s Association’s current grant competition, so pick your track carefully.
Budget points for UK applicants
Indirect costs are capped at 10% of direct costs for non-profit organisations, and are not allowed at all for for-profit organisations. That is well below what UK universities usually recover, so talk to your research office before you submit the letter of intent. Awards are paid in US dollars with no adjustment for exchange rate movements. The RFA lists what can and cannot be costed; rent, large laboratory equipment, tuition and visa fees are all excluded, while PI salary is allowed with no cap.
The letter of intent
The letter of intent is short: the project description is limited to 1,000 characters per section, alongside a biosketch for the PI (the NIH format is recommended) and an ORCID iD. Non-US institutions also need a W-8BEN form signed by an institutional signing official within the last five years and showing a tax or VAT number, so ask your finance office for this early. LOIs are reviewed by two or three experts on innovation, fit with Part the Cloud’s priorities, impact and methodological rigour. Only a fraction are invited to full application, and no feedback is given at this stage.
If invited, the full application asks for a work plan, trial design, statistical plan, data sharing plan, milestone plan and a recruitment plan. The Association expects every trial to match or exceed the diversity of its local population, so our blog on recruiting participants for clinical trials and our podcast on methodology in dementia clinical trials are both worth your time. Before you write anything, listen to our grant writing tips from awardees and reviewers.
How to apply
Read the RFA for your chosen track: the Phase 1 and Phase 2 Clinical Studies RFA or the Combination Therapies Program RFA. Applicants are also strongly encouraged to read the conditions of award before submitting. Letters of intent and full applications are submitted through ProposalCentral, and questions can go to grantsapp@alz.org.
Read the full details and apply
Why it matters
Plenty of funders back early discovery work and plenty back late stage trials, but far fewer pay for the first studies in people, and that gap is where many good candidates stall. Part the Cloud was set up to close it. If you have been frustrated by the process, our piece on when drug discovery fails will feel familiar, and this is one of the few schemes built to get candidates past that point.
Visit funding web page
(https://www.alz.org/research/for_researchers/grants/types-of-grants)
