Early Career Research Awards for the Study of the Economics of AD/ADRD

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To promote research on economic aspects of the prevention and treatment of Alzheimer’s disease and Alzheimer’s disease-related dementias (AD/ADRD), and the care of persons living with dementia (PLWD), the National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER) plans to award five EC-READ (Early Career — Research on Economics of Alzheimer's/Dementia) grants to support early-career scholars. These grants will be administered by the NBER’s Coordinating Center on the Economics of AD/ADRD, which is supported by the National Institute on Aging (NIA) and links together a consortium of AD/ADRD-related research projects. EC-READ grants are designed to support early-stage investigators, defined as those who completed their graduate training in the last decade and have not yet served as the Principal Investigator on a National Institute of Health (NIH) research grant. They are aimed at researchers who are interested in launching projects on economic issues related to AD/ADRD, especially researchers who have not worked in this area before.   

Each EC-READ award will cover up to $50,000 of direct costs associated with AD/ADRD research. In addition, each award recipient will be paired with a mentor, a senior member of the Consortium who is familiar with the proposed line of research, who can provide advice on project design and execution. EC-READ awards may be used to pay investigator salary or defray other research expenses, including the cost of data collection or research assistants. 

Applicants may propose research on any issue related to the economics of AD/ADRD. Priority research topics include: 

• The cost of both formal and informal dementia care to individuals, families, health care systems, and society, and the effect of these costs on access to care and related outcomes.

• The prevention and management of dementia, including the use of economic incentives to affect lifestyle and treatment choices, and innovation, such as drug development.

• The role of hospitals, long-term care facilities, and other health-system organizations in caring for AD/ADRD patients, and the cost-effectiveness of the care delivered.

• Economic analysis of the long-term care industry and its workforce, including skill levels and retention of experienced caregivers, and the effects of these on PLWD.

• The links between lifecycle labor market activity, including unemployment and retirement, on the risk of developing AD/ADRD.

• The role of private and public funding for R&D on AD/ADRD, as well as opportunities for international collaboration; cross-country comparisons of AD/ADRD risk factors, dementia care, and diagnostic and treatment practices. 

• Analysis of interventions that may change the financial incentives for dementia care providers or promote healthy behaviors protective against dementia and its progression.

• Analysis of the factors that contribute to disparities in the incidence of dementia across sub-groups in the US population, and the consequences of these differences in the burden of AD/ADRD.

• Applications of artificial intelligence (AI) to study patterns of dementia onset, identify treatment practices, or advance research on the care, prevention, and treatment of AD/ADRD more generally. 

A more detailed description of priority topics for research may be found on the Coordinating Center website. 

EC-READ award recipients are welcome, but not required, to spend time in residence at the NBER’s Cambridge, Massachusetts office, where they will have access to a variety of workshops, conferences, and training activities. All recipients will have an opportunity to present their research at one of the Coordinating Center’s research meetings.  

The NBER hosted two half-hour online sessions (November 18, and December 16, 2024), moderated by the Coordinating Center’s Executive Director, Susan Stewart, and including NIA and NBER program staff, to provide information on the EC-READ program and the closely related READ program, both of which support research on AD/ADRD. A document of Questions and Answers from potential applicants is here on the Coordinating Center website. Additional questions may be addressed to adrd@nber.org. 

In some cases, potential EC-READ applicants may be able to consult with mentors before submitting their proposals.   

Interested researchers should submit proposals in PDF format by 11:59pm ET on Thursday, January 16, 2025. 

Each proposal should include a cover page with the name and contact information of the applicant and a note that this is an application for the EC-READ program. Each proposal must include three components:

          i) A research plan of no more than four pages, single spaced, including references, tables, graphs, and other supplementary material, with no less than 0.5” inch margins and no smaller than Arial 11 font size for text, summarizing the proposed research project. This plan should describe data and methods to be used, present preliminary findings if any are available, and may include a request for a particular senior researcher to serve as a project mentor. The plan must explain how the applicant plans to complete the project within two years, with a timetable including the preparation of a journal submission based on the findings. 

          ii) A draft budget of approximately $50,000 in direct costs, which may include salary support for the applicant, as well as a spending plan over a period of at most two years. Budget questions may be addressed to adrd@nber.org. 

          iii) A curriculum vitae or NIH biosketch.

          iv) A brief explanation — no more than one page — of 1) how the proposed research will inform ADRD-related health disparities across various population sub-groups, 2) how it relates to the AD/ADRD research milestones developed by NIA, and 3) how the project will facilitate the applicant’s career development as an AD/ADRD researcher. Applicants should also disclose any financial or other interests that might constitute potential sources of conflicts of interest for the proposed research.    

Applicants must be faculty members or research scientists (with a PhD, MD or equivalent) at US institutions of higher education, hospitals, or other non-profit research organizations. They must be US citizens, legal permanent residents, or otherwise be authorized to work in the US. They need not be economists: applications from researchers in related fields, who are studying economic issues, are welcome. So are applications from researchers who are not NBER affiliates, and from researchers who are members of under-represented groups.  

Please circulate this call to colleagues who might be interested in this opportunity. Researchers who are further advanced in their careers may be interested in the companion READ grant program.

Applications will be reviewed by a scientific committee chaired by the co-directors of the Coordinating Center, Rhoda Au (Boston University), Julie Bynum (University of Michigan), and Kathleen McGarry (UCLA), with input from the Center’s NIA project scientist. The Center’s NIA Program Officer will review all proposals that are recommended for funding to ensure that they align with Coordinating Center’s scope. Successful applicants will be notified in March 2025 and will be required to attest to their compliance with the NBER Professional Code of Conduct before deploying their grant funds.    

(last updated 12-22-24)