Deadline: 16-Sep-2025
The Brain Canada Foundation, together with the Krembil Foundation, has launched the Accelerator Grants: Neurodegeneration x Immunology Program. This program supports innovative and exploratory research focused on understanding the immune system’s role in neurodegenerative diseases like Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s, and Huntington’s disease. The goal is to fund early-stage experimental projects that could provide new insights into disease progression, diagnosis, prevention, and treatment.
Projects that propose novel hypotheses or use unconventional approaches are preferred, especially if they have the potential to shift existing paradigms and open new research directions. Eligible research should explore immune mechanisms such as innate or adaptive immunity, neuroinflammation, central or peripheral immune responses, interactions between the nervous and immune systems during aging, or the gut-immune-brain axis.
The program offers up to $3 million CAD in funding to support up to 10 teams. Each team grant is worth $300,000, spread over two years. Funding can cover salaries for technical and administrative staff, trainee stipends, supplies, and essential equipment. However, salaries for principal investigators, general office supplies, and indirect or overhead costs are excluded.
Applicants must be independent researchers affiliated with eligible Canadian academic institutions throughout the grant period. Eligible applicants usually hold positions at the rank of assistant professor or higher and have authority over their research and trainees. Postdoctoral fellows, research associates, and adjunct faculty cannot apply.
Applications must come from multidisciplinary teams that include at least two independent investigators from different Canadian institutions or distinct research groups within the same institution. Additional team members may be included as needed. Research applications cannot overlap with other funded projects, and applicants may submit only one proposal as principal investigator. Projects should be ready to start in March 2026, when the funding is expected to begin.
For more information, visit Brain Canada Foundation.
