ADDF-Harrington Scholar Program

Eligibility

• Academic investigators at accredited medical centers, research institutions, and universities in the United States, Canada and United Kingdom only are eligible to apply.
• Lead investigator must have an MD, a PhD, or equivalent.
• Proposals should show potential to advance discovery into meaningful therapeutics to treat, prevent, slow, or reverse Alzheimer’s disease or related dementias (vascular dementia, frontotemporal dementia, Lewy Body dementia, LATE etc).
• Team should possess intellectual property (IP) or have potential for novel IP that has not yet been licensed to a for-profit entity.
• Researchers working on drug development programs that are relevant to but not presently focused on the Alzheimer’s field are strongly encouraged to apply.

Summary

The ADDF-Harrington Scholar Program is dedicated to advancing academic discoveries into medicines for Alzheimer’s disease and related dementias. This award provides funding and project support by a team of pharmaceutical industry experts through a collaboration with the Alzheimer’s Drug Discovery Foundation (ADDF) and the Brain Health Medicines Centers of the Harrington Discovery Institute. This is a special funding opportunity separate from ADDF’s Therapeutic Funding Programs.

NOTE Funding is provided through mission-related investments that require return on investment based upon scientific and/or business milestones (see Our Research Strategy for more information).

Average Award

The award typically entails up to $600,000 over 2 years with dedicated support for milestone-driven projects from a team of industry veterans with capabilities that include medicinal chemistry, pharmacology & toxicology, and business development. The expertise of each team is tailored to the specific needs of the project during the two-year award period.

DEADLINES

Letter of Intent: June 1, 2026
Full Proposal: August 17, 2026

Award decisions are anticipated by March 2027.

APPLICATION SUBMISSIONS

Review the Application Instructions for steps on applying.

Overhead

Overhead costs are not supported.

Pre-application deadlines

RSO internal deadline

Pre-application program deadline

Application deadlines

RSO detailed review deadline

RSO final internal review deadline

Program application deadline

NOTE: Consult your Faculty Associate Dean (Research) (ADR) regarding Faculty-specific deadlines and submission processes.

Principal Investigators: Complete a Research Management System (RMS) record, including a copy of your complete application, and submit this for approvals in RMS.

Postdocs, students, and trainees: For fellowships and externally-sponsored research training awards or opportunities, you must complete the Research Funding Application Approval (RFAA) Trainee PDF form, and submit it, along with a complete copy of the application, to Research Services at rsotrainee@ucalgary.ca. Trainees should not use RMS at this time.

Approvals: The University of Calgary requires that all funding applications be approved prior to submission. Approval requires signatures via either RMS or the RFAA Trainee form, in the following order:

• Principal Investigator
• Department Head
• Faculty ADR/Dean
• Research Services (on behalf of the Vice-President Research)

Read the Meaning of Grant Signatures policy to understand what your approval means. Please see the agency guidelines for details about which signatures are required on your application, as it may differ from internal requirements.

Late submissions: Late submissions will only be accepted in cases of medical or family emergencies, or other exceptional circumstances. If you submit your RMS record to Research Services after the internal deadline has passed, you must secure additional approvals. Please read: Late Applications Process.

RESOURCES

Reminder: The sooner the researcher engages with Research Services, the more help we can be!

Contact the following Research Service units for support with:

Projects Involving Indigenous Research:

Support with incorporating wise practices in Indigenous research, community engagement, and Indigenous data management is available through the Indigenous Research Support Team (IRST).

Applicants can reach out by email to IRST at IRST@ucalgary.ca in advance of the RSO internal deadline. For more information about IRST, please visit the IRST webpage.

Knowledge Mobilization, Research Impact Assessment, DORA:

Support for knowledge mobilization/engagement/translation, community partnerships, research impact, responsible research assessment (DORA), and open science, is available through the Knowledge to Impact team.

Applicants can reach out by email to the KI team at knowledge.impact@ucalgary.ca.

For more information and access to resource archives, please visit the KI team webpage.

Research Data Management:

For information on research data management plans, processes, or best practices for your research program, please contact research.data@ucalgary.ca.

EDI in Research:

RSO can provide resources and support to research teams on the integration of equitable and inclusive practices in research design and research practice.

Contact edi.rso@ucalgary.ca for more information.

Research Security:

The Research Security Division is available to ensure researchers adhere to research security guidelines and policies, including the National Security Guidelines for Research Partnerships (NSGRP) and the policy on Sensitive Technology Research and Affiliations of Concern (STRAC).

Visit the Research Security website to learn more or contact researchsecurity@ucalgary.ca.

Pre-Award Submissions:

RMS: Creating a Pre-Award LOI
RMS: Creating a Pre-Award Application