Alzheimer's Drug Discovery Foundation And The Association For Frontotemporal Dementias Create New Collaborative Grant Award Program

New York, NY - The Alzheimer's Drug Discovery Foundation (ADDF) and The Association for Frontotemporal Dementias (AFTD) announced a new grant award program entitled Frontotemporal Dementia Drug Discovery. This three-year collaborative program will provide a total of $900,000 to support academic and biotechnology industry scientists worldwide conducting drug discovery research on innovative therapies for frontotemporal dementia (FTD).

The program seeks to catalyze novel approaches to FTD drug discovery. An annual total of $300,000 will be awarded in grants averaging $100,000 per scientist. ADDF will be the administrator of the program supported by a Scientific Review Committee comprised of leading experts from the ADDF and AFTD Scientific Review Boards. Scientists will be invited to apply through an online application process available at www.alzdiscovery.org. The deadline for the first-year grant submission is October 15, 2007, and funding will be awarded April 15, 2008.

"We are grateful for AFTD's commitment to advancing the discovery and development of new treatments for FTD," remarked ADDF Executive Director Howard Fillit, MD, who will lead this research effort. "Their dedication and support enables the ADDF to broaden its programming, fund more scientists, and make an even greater contribution to bridging the global funding gap for FTD drug discovery research that will ultimately improve the lives of thousands of people."

"This program brings not only hope for a treatment, but it also captures energy building from recent scientific advances in the field and leverages it to new heights," stated Philip Lovett, a member of the AFTD Board of Directors. "We need to keep this momentum going and ensure that these findings are translated from the lab to the clinic as soon as possible in order to provide desperately-needed help to those patients and families who are coping with FTD."

SOURCE: the Alzheimer's Drug Discovery Foundation