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Friends of BrainHealth has awarded six grants for research into dementia risk and prevention, early brain changes, resilience and caregiver well-being. The awards were announced Sept. 28 and are intended to help Center for BrainHealth researchers develop work that could compete for larger Texas state grants.
Friends of BrainHealth awarded six 2026 research grants for projects examining dementia risk, early brain changes, resilience and caregiver well-being, with a seventh award decided by audience vote. The grants are intended to give Center for BrainHealth researchers early support as they develop studies that may be positioned to compete for larger awards from Texas’ Dementia Prevention and Research Institute of Texas (DPRIT).
The recipients were recognized at the Ramona Jones Friends of BrainHealth Scientist Selection Luncheon on Sept. 28 at Dallas Country Club. Three finalists competed for an additional Emerging Scientist award in a live audience vote; Christine Dugas, PhD, received the Audience Choice award for a project exploring links between retinal vascular health, neuronal health and dementia risk factors.
The 2026 program includes a new Visionary Scientist category, alongside its Emerging Scientists awards. Visionary awards went to Zhengsi Chang, PhD, and Ziwei Zhang, PhD, for a study of biomarkers and cognitive resilience in Alzheimer’s disease; Francesca Filbey, PhD, for longitudinal neuroimaging research on metabolic health and GLP-1-based therapy; and Dan Krawczyk, PhD, for a proposed light-guided training intervention related to brain health and dementia risk.
Emerging Scientist projects include validating the BrainHealth Index as a way to monitor early changes; developing profiles of dementia risk and resilience from eight determinants; and testing a mindfulness-based approach to support dementia caregivers. The source report says the donor circle invested more than $466,000 in this year’s research, but does not give individual award amounts.
Seed Grants and Texas Research Funding
The awards provide early-stage support for researchers to test ideas and build evidence. Friends of BrainHealth says this year’s grants are meant to help investigators strengthen proposals for potential multimillion-dollar funding from DPRIT, which could support larger-scale, translational research over the coming decade. The grants themselves are not state awards, and the report does not say that any recipient has secured DPRIT funding.
The range of projects also reflects several routes researchers are investigating: identifying changes sooner, understanding factors associated with dementia risk or resilience, and supporting people who care for those with dementia. These are research aims, not established results or proven prevention methods. The awards matter to readers because early funding can help determine which approaches produce enough evidence to pursue larger studies.
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A Two-Decade Funding Record
Friends of BrainHealth is a donor circle that supports research at the Center for BrainHealth. According to the report, it has raised $6 million and awarded 69 seedling grants since it began nearly 20 years ago. The group’s model is to fund promising ideas early, before researchers seek larger grants.
The new Visionary Scientist category extends the 2026 program beyond emerging investigators to include seasoned principal investigators. The awards were selected through the luncheon program, which combines donor support and researcher presentations; three finalists for the seventh award were put to a live audience vote. The report describes DPRIT as a new opportunity for researchers to seek larger state support, but provides no application timetable or award decisions.
“This year, our community of supporters invested more than $466,000 in innovative research focused on brain health and dementia prevention.”
— Andy Walsh, 2026 Friends of BrainHealth campaign co-chair
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Award Amounts and Research Outcomes
The source report does not list individual grant amounts, project timelines, planned participant numbers or specific measures of success. It also does not say whether the projects will later receive DPRIT funding, when researchers might apply, or which proposed studies will progress to larger trials. The projects are research proposals; the report provides no findings showing that an intervention prevents dementia or improves brain health.
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Building Evidence for Larger Grants
The next steps described are research development and the pursuit of potential larger-scale funding. Investigators will need to carry out their proposed work and establish evidence relevant to their research questions before seeking expanded support. No DPRIT application dates or funding decisions were included in the report, so the timing and outcome of any state grant competition remain unknown.
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Key Questions
What did Friends of BrainHealth announce?
It announced six 2026 research award recipients, with a seventh Emerging Scientist award selected by audience vote at the Sept. 28 luncheon.
What topics will the funded projects study?
The projects cover early brain changes, dementia risk and resilience, Alzheimer’s-related biomarkers, metabolic health, a light-guided training approach, and caregiver well-being. They describe research plans, not confirmed findings.
How much funding was provided?
The report says Friends of BrainHealth invested more than $466,000 in this year’s research. It does not state how much each project received.
Have the researchers received DPRIT grants?
The report says the seed awards are intended to help researchers compete for larger DPRIT grants. It does not report that any recipient has secured state funding.
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