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AFTD Holloway Fellowships

AFTD is proud to support two fellowship programs made possible by the Holloway Family Fund:

The Clinical Research Training Scholarship in FTD, made available in collaboration with the American Academy of Neurology and the American Brain Foundation — The application deadline for the 2023 Clinical Research training Scholarship in FTD has passed. The 2024 RFA will be available Summer 2023.
Holloway Postdoctoral Fellowships — 2023 RFP available Fall 2022.

2023 Holloway Postdoctoral Fellowship

Made possible by the generous support of the Holloway Family Fund.

The AFTD Holloway Postdoctoral Fellowship program provides funding for the next generation of FTD researchers. By supporting talented young investigators during this critical phase of their scientific training, AFTD aims to inspire a long-standing commitment to FTD research.

Award Details

Duration: Two years, beginning on July 1 and ending on June 30 of the second year
Amount of award (USD): $60,000/ year ($120,000 total)
Application of funds: Postdoctoral stipend + benefits. Any remaining funds may be applied to:
- Travel to relevant scientific meetings
- Research expenses (direct costs only)
- Publication costs

AFTD Application Submission Portal

Click here to create an account and complete a profile. Applications for the 2023 Holloway Postdoctoral Fellowship can be submitted in Fall 2022.

General Instructions for Applicants

Click here to download instructions to help you as you apply for a Holloway Postdoctoral Fellowship.

For more information:

Please contact AFTD at research@theaftd.org or 484-584-0018 x 8910.

2023 Clinical Research Training Scholarship

This award aims to recognize the importance of good clinical research and to encourage early career investigators in clinical studies in FTD.

The Clinical Research Training Scholarship, a new funding opportunity specifically for clinician scientists, continues AFTD’s long-standing commitment to supporting the next generation of FTD researchers. Funded by AFTD thanks to the generous support of the Holloway Family Fund, with additional support from the American Brain Foundation in collaboration with the American Academy of Neurology, the Clinical Research Training Scholarship supports (1) patient-oriented research or (2) translational research designed to advance the treatment or diagnosis of FTD. Eligible projects include epidemiologic or behavioral studies, clinical trials, studies of disease mechanisms, the development of new technologies, and health services and outcomes research.

Award Details

Duration: Two years
Amount of award (USD): $75,000 total/yr ($65,000 plus a $10,000/yr stipend to support education and research-related costs)

Who can apply?

This funding opportunity is open to U.S. and international applicants who:

Are AAN members
Are interested in an academic career in neurological research
Have completed their residency or a PhD no more than 5 years prior to the beginning of this award. Eligibility of applicants who have completed both residency and a PhD is based on when they completed residency

Timeline

September 1, 2022: Application deadline
January 2023: Notification of recipients
July 1, 2023: Funding period begins

AFTD Application Submission Portal

Access AAN application portal.

Request for Applications

View the RFA details and application instructions.

To download a printable version of the RFA, click here.

For more information:

Please contact AFTD at research@theaftd.org or 267-758-8654.

Recent Award Recipients

Clinical Research Training Scholarship in FTD

2022

Multimodal evidence of the role of Alzheimer’s disease pathology in corticobasal and progressive supranuclear palsy syndromes

Indira García Cordero, PhD | University of Toronto
$150,000 USD ($75,000/year)
PI: Carmela Tartaglia

Project Description

Dr. Cordero’s project will compare people with CBS or PSP and Alzheimer’s disease-positive biomarkers to people with CBS/PSP who are negative for AD biomarkers to look for differences in brain atrophy, connectivity, or cognitive and behavioral symptoms. Such differences could aid in the selection of clinical trial participants in CBS/PSP and increase understanding of co-occurring pathologies in neurodegenerative diseases.

Holloway Postdoctoral Fellowships

2022

Investigating O-glycosylation modification in C9ORF72 FTD/ALS pathogenesis

Eric Anderson, PhD | University of Pittsburgh
$120,000 USD ($60,000/year)
PI: Udai Pandey, PhD

Project Description

Dr. Anderson plans to study two enzymes responsible for adding and removing a type of sugar molecule from proteins, which has been implicated in multiple pathological changes associated with the C9ORF72 mutation. By using genetic and pharmacological manipulations to increase or block the activity of these complementary enzymes, he will determine whether modifying this pathway could alter C9ORF72-mediated toxicity.

Deciphering the consequences of chromogranin A (CgA) depletion in tauopathy

Suborno Jati, PhD | University of California San Diego
$120,000 USD ($60,000/year)
PI: Renzo Mancuso

Project Description

Dr. Jati will examine a prohormone, chromogranin A (CgA), which regulates several of the chemical signals mediating communication between neurons. CgA also activates microglia, which play an important role in neuroinflammation. CgA has been found in pathological plaques and tangles, implying a link to tauopathies, and deleting the CgA gene in mice extends lifespan and improves health in old age. Dr. Jati will further examine the relationship between CgA and tau pathology in a tauopathy mouse model that also lacks a functional CgA gene. He hypothesizes that deleting the CgA gene will reduce pathological, behavioral, and metabolic changes associated with tauopathy. If correct, this work could point to CgA as a target for therapeutic development.

Long-read transcriptomics in FTLD-TDP to aid in the identification of novel biomarkers and mechanistic insights

Julia Faura Llorens, PhD | Vlaams Instituut voor Biotechnologie (VIB)
$120,000 USD ($60,000/year)
PI: Rosa Rademakers

Project Description

One of the primary functions of the FTD-associated protein TDP-43 is the processing of the RNA templates, or transcripts, needed to synthesize proteins. TDP-43 dysfunction in FTD disrupts this process, leading to the inclusion of extraneous sequences that would normally be edited out during processing. The presence of these “cryptic exons” results in defective transcripts that give rise to abnormal proteins. In a first for FTD research, Dr. Faura Llorens will use a next-generation technology, known as long-read transcriptome sequencing to identify and characterize previously undetected disease-associated transcripts. These abnormal transcripts could be the basis for the development of urgently needed TDP-43 biomarkers as well as novel targets for drug development.

2021

Neuronal network dysfunction in neurodegenerative disease

Daniel Okobi, MD, PhD | University of California, Los Angeles
$120,000 USD ($60,000/year)
Start date: July 1, 2021

Project Description

Dr. Okobi, a neurology resident and postdoctoral fellow in the laboratory of Dr. Peyman Golshani at UCLA, will use miniatured microscopes implanted in the brains of mice with an FTD-associated mutation to image brain pathways in the animals as they go about their normal activities. In addition, he will monitor the behavior of the mice, including their responses to social cues, using high-resolution video capture. Together, these state-of-the-art methods will allow Dr. Okobi to detect subtle abnormalities that represent the earliest signs of the FTD disease process.

Dissecting the molecular consequences of C9orf72 loss in lysosomal homeostasis and ALS-FTD disease pathogenesis

Hijai Regina Shin, PhD | University of California, Berkeley
$120,000 USD ($60,000/year)
Start date: July 1, 2021

Project Description

Dr. Shin, a postdoctoral fellow at the University of California, Berkeley in the laboratory of Dr. Roberto Zoncu, will build on work carried out by former AFTD postdoctoral fellow Ming-Yuan Su, PhD. Dr. Su’s research demonstrated that the protein encoded by the C9orf72 gene regulates the breakdown of damaged or obsolete proteins within a structure called the lysosome, and that the loss of functional C9orf72 in FTD disrupts this regulatory process. Dr. Shin will take this work to the next level, using cutting-edge biochemical techniques and neurons derived from patient stem cells to study the impact of the C9orf72 mutation on the lysosome in more detail. She plans to apply what she learns to devise strategies for the development of drugs that restore normal lysosome function in C9orf72-associated FTD.

Modulating TDP-43-dependent loss of STMN2 in FTD

Matthew Nolan, PhD | Massachusetts General Hospital
$120,000 USD ($60,000/year)
Start date: July 1, 2021

Project Description

Dr. Nolan will use gene editing, stem cells, and animal models to advance our understanding of the role of RNA binding proteins in FTD. Specifically, he will focus on stathmin-2, one of many proteins under the control of the RNA binding protein TDP-43. Defective TDP-43 function in FTD causes a mistake in the stathmin-2 template that reduces levels of the stathmin-2 protein. Dr. Nolan’s project seeks to identify and evaluate new drugs that target stathmin-2 as potential treatments for TDP-43-associated FTD.

2019

A structural approach to rescuing C9orf72 haploinsufficiency in ALS/FTD | Basic Science

Ming-Yuan Su, PhD | The Regents of the University of California
$110,000 USD ($55,000/year)
Start date: July 1, 2019

Project Description

The C9orf72 protein encoded by the C9ORF72 gene mutated in hereditary FTD and ALS exists as part of a large stable complex with two other proteins, SMCR8 and WDR41. In her postdoctoral project, Dr. Su will utilize cryo-electron microscopy to determine the structure of this C9orf72–SMCR8–WDR41 complex and another technique, HDX-coupled mass spectrometry, to learn more about how the three proteins interact. She will then attempt to identify small molecule compounds that can stabilize the complex, slowing its breakdown, and determine if stabilization can compensate for the reduction in C9orf72 due to the mutation in FTD and improve the survival of neurons created from patient-derived stem cells. If so, these compounds could be the starting point for the development of effective treatments for FTD associated with the C9orf72 mutation.

Identification of an RNA-based biomarker for FTD | Clinical Research

Oriol Dols Icardo, PhD | Institut de Recerca de l’Hospital de la Santa Creu i Sant Pau
$110,000 USD ($55,000/year)
Start date: January 1, 2020

Project Description

The abnormal accumulation of tau, TDP-43, and other proteins that is the defining pathological feature of FTD may be preceded by alterations in RNA expression. Such changes in RNA could be a potential biomarker for early-stage FTD. In his postdoctoral project, Dr. Icardo will characterize the transcriptome of the frontal cortex in FTD-tau, FTD-TDP-43, and FTD-FUS compared to healthy controls. He will also compare TDP-43 associated RNA alterations in FTD with RNA alterations in the motor cortex of people with ALS. FTD-specific changes identified in brain will be further evaluated in RNA from exosomes of patients representing FTD clinical subtypes. Differences in CSF RNA that reliably and consistently differentiate FTD subtypes or individuals with FTD from those who do not could be the basis of a fluid biomarker as well as promising targets for RNA-based FTD treatments.

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For Researchers

Today’s research leads to tomorrow’s breakthroughs.

AFTD Holloway Fellowships

AFTD is proud to support two fellowship programs made possible by the Holloway Family Fund:

2023 Holloway Postdoctoral Fellowship

Made possible by the generous support of the Holloway Family Fund.

Award Details

AFTD Application Submission Portal

General Instructions for Applicants

For more information:

2023 Clinical Research Training Scholarship

This award aims to recognize the importance of good clinical research and to encourage early career investigators in clinical studies in FTD.

Award Details

Who can apply?

Timeline

AFTD Application Submission Portal

Request for Applications

For more information:

Recent Award Recipients

Clinical Research Training Scholarship in FTD

2022

Multimodal evidence of the role of Alzheimer’s disease pathology in corticobasal and progressive supranuclear palsy syndromes

Holloway Postdoctoral Fellowships

2022

Investigating O-glycosylation modification in C9ORF72 FTD/ALS pathogenesis

Deciphering the consequences of chromogranin A (CgA) depletion in tauopathy

Long-read transcriptomics in FTLD-TDP to aid in the identification of novel biomarkers and mechanistic insights

2021

Neuronal network dysfunction in neurodegenerative disease

Dissecting the molecular consequences of C9orf72 loss in lysosomal homeostasis and ALS-FTD disease pathogenesis

Modulating TDP-43-dependent loss of STMN2 in FTD

2019

A structural approach to rescuing C9orf72 haploinsufficiency in ALS/FTD | Basic Science

Identification of an RNA-based biomarker for FTD | Clinical Research

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