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2026 ReCARDO Research Award Program Now Accepting Letters of Interest
The 2026 ReCARDO Research Award Program is now accepting Letters of Interest (LOIs) for pilot projects that advance research in Alzheimer’s disease and related dementias (ADRD). Supported by the National Institute on Aging, the ReCARDO Research Network funds innovative studies that use real-world data and contribute to the development and enhancement of ReCARDO resources, including harmonized datasets, common data elements (CDEs), and analytic tools.
The program will provide up to 10 awards, each offering up to $100,000 in direct costs for projects lasting up to 12 months. Indirect costs will be provided according to each institution’s federally negotiated rate. Projects should leverage and strengthen ReCARDO infrastructure and may focus on areas such as harmonized datasets and common data elements, artificial intelligence (AI), machine learning, and natural language processing (NLP) for aging data resources, validation or benchmarking of ReCARDO pipelines, reusable computational tools and workflows, integration of clinical, administrative, or research data, and validation or reuse of ReCARDO-produced data, tools, or code.
The 2026 program places special emphasis on three focus areas: Challenging Themes, CDE Development Innovation, and CDE Evaluation and Use Cases.
Eligible applicants include investigators at academic, nonprofit, and government institutions who are authorized to serve as principal investigators (PIs) under their institution’s policies. Trainees, including postdoctoral fellows and residents, are not eligible to apply as PI.
The application process begins with a required Letter of Interest that includes basic application information and a high-level project summary. Selected applicants will be invited to submit a full application as a single PDF containing the research plan, references, budget, biosketches, and project timeline.
Important dates for the 2026 competition are as follows:
- Program Release: April 15, 2026
- Information Session: May 15, 2026, from 2:00 to 3:00 PM CT
- Letter of Interest Deadline: May 30, 2026
- LOI Notification: June 7, 2026
- Full Application Deadline: June 30, 2026
- Award Notification: Late August 2026
- Earliest Project Start Date: September 1, 2026
Researchers interested in applying can view the full application requirements and submit their materials through the application portal. Additional information is available on the ReCARDO website. Prospective applicants are also encouraged to attend an informational webinar on May 15, 2026, from 2:00 to 3:00 PM CST. Questions may be directed to recardo.research@uth.tmc.edu.
Related Links:
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