Researchers receive NIH grant to accelerate Alzheimer's drug discovery efforts

Dr. Damian Young, investigator at Texas Children's Duncan Neurological Research Institute (Duncan NRI) and director of the Center for Drug Discovery at Baylor College of Medicine, along with collaborators has been awarded a $6.7 million grant from the National Institute on Aging (NIA), part of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), to develop new approaches to rapidly identify potential treatments for Alzheimer's disease and related dementias with the goal of accelerating the discovery of new therapies.

While Alzheimer's is often associated with aging, researchers at Texas Children's are uniquely positioned to study it. By examining how the brain develops and functions early in life, scientists can better understand how those same systems break down over time-revealing new opportunities to prevent and treat neurodegenerative disease.

This five-year project brings together experts in chemistry, artificial intelligence and translational science to tackle one of the most complex challenges in Alzheimer's research -quickly identifying therapies that are both safe and effective.

This grant will enable the most expansive screening effort to date for compounds targeting Alzheimer's disease. By integrating cutting-edge biological insights from Alzheimer's disease research worldwide with a highly innovative chemistry and machine learning platform, we aim to unlock new opportunities for discovery. This work will represent the first critical step toward developing transformative therapies for Alzheimer's disease and related dementias."