About the Digital Biomarker Pilot Program
Mission Statement
The mission of the National Alzheimer's Coordinating Center (NACC) and Gates Ventures Alzheimer's Disease and Related Dementias (AD/ADRD) Digital Biomarker Pilot (DBP) Awards is to accelerate innovative digital data collection and sharing across the Alzheimer Disease Research Center (ADRC) Program to accelerate Alzheimer's Disease and Related Dementias (AD/ADRD) research and discovery.
The NACC and Gates Ventures AD/ADRD DBP Awards are seeking to fulfill this mission by providing funding for pilot projects that leverage technology to enable richer data collection with less burden for participants and ADRCs and that advance the development and validation of digital biomarkers. As a public charity, the DBP Awards funding must be used specifically for an approved scientific project that advances this stated mission.
Program Overview
Alzheimer's Disease and Related Dementias (AD/ADRD) research has entered the digital age! There is a huge opportunity to leverage digital tools to advance AD/ADRD research and discovery and make this research more inclusive. A key focus of this award program, a partnership between Gates Ventures and National Alzheimer's Coordinating Center (NACC), was to accelerate the pace of digital innovation in AD/ADRD and to facilitate impactful collaborations between academia and industry. This award forged pathways for digital technology to be applied within the Alzheimer's Disease Research Centers (ADRC) network which serves as a model for the global AD/ADRD community. The data collected through these awards is being integrated with other standardized data modalities at NACC and made freely available to researchers everywhere. We are committed to working with awardees to scale successful projects across the full ADRC network and beyond. Together this data is opening the door to better early detection, treatment, and prevention of AD/ADRD.
The goals of this program:
- Accelerate impactful digital data collection and sharing across the ADRC Program to advance AD/ADRD research and discovery.
- Leverage technology to capture richer and more objective data with less burden for participants and ADRCs.
- Advance the development and/or validation of digital biomarkers for early detection, diagnosis, prognosis, or monitoring.
Process
Two proposals were selected for funding (in 2024) after a rigorous review process, with input from a selection committee made up of digital health experts across industry, government, and academia, culminating in a public pitch competition. At the Pitch Competition (May 2024), top teams pitched their proposals in front of a live audience. Following the Pitch Competition, the program awarded nearly 1.4 million dollars to support the two digital pilot projects as decided by the selection committee. Missed the Pitch Competition? Watch the live recording
Two proposals were selected for funding after a rigorous review process, with input from digital health experts across industry, government, and academia, culminating in a public pitch competition.
About the Pitch Competition:
Top applicants of the NACC and Gates Ventures Alzheimer's Disease and Related Dementias (AD/ADRD) Digital Pilot Program pitched their proposals to the judge panel in front of a live audience. In pursuit of $250K-$1M in funding, these top teams shared how their pilot projects will leverage digital tools to enable richer and more objective data collection across the ADRC Program and beyond with less burden for research subjects and patients.
Pitching teams were given 6 minutes to pitch their proposals. Pitches were followed by 4 minutes of Q&A from our panel of expert judges made up of digital health leaders from across the academic, industry, and government sectors. At the end of the event, audience members joined an “Ask Me Anything” Virtual Poster Session where they met with the pitching teams to ask questions and learn more about their projects.
This event was an excellent opportunity to learn about emerging digital solutions and how digital data collection is transforming AD/ADRD research and discovery.
View the pitching teams slides:
- EFFECT-AD - Everyday Frequent Functional Evaluation with Crosscutting Technology for AD
- Characterizing sleep-wake activity patterns across the spectrum of AD/ADRD
- CLARIFY - Speech Analysis and Keystroke Tracking for Early AD Detection
- Scalable Next-Generation Smartphone Gait Assessment for Early Detection of AD/ADRD
- Remote Digital Monitoring to Detect Behavioral and Neuropsychiatric Symptoms in ADRD
- Pilot Study to Evaluate VisMET on the Linus Health Platform at Multiple ADRCs
Informational Webinar
NACC & Gates Ventures AD/ADRD Digital Biomarker Pilot Program
January 22, 2024
The webinar featured an overview of the new program launched by NACC and Gates Ventures and the value that this data will have on AD/ADRD research and innovation! Our speakers Niranjan Bose, PhD of Gates Ventures, Nina Silverberg, PhD of NIA, Rhoda Au, PhD, MBA of Boston University, and Sarah Biber, PhD of NACC covered highly relevant topics such as how to connect with industry partners from an academic lens and why the ADRC Program is a good testbed for developing impactful digital biomarkers. This webinar wrapped up with a Q&A panel - which has been included in the FAQ section.
About our Partners
The National Institute on Aging (NIA) funds 33 Alzheimer's Disease Research Centers (ADRCs) at major medical institutions across the United States. Researchers at these Centers are working to translate research advances into improved diagnosis and care for people with Alzheimer's disease, as well as working to find a treatment or way to prevent Alzheimer's and other types of dementia.
The National Alzheimer’s Coordinating Center (NACC), established in 1999 by the National Institute on Aging (NIA), serves as the centralized data repository and collaboration hub for the NIA’s Alzheimer’s Disease Research Centers (ADRC) Program, which currently includes 33 centers and 4 exploratory centers across the United States. NACC maintains one of the world’s largest standardized datasets on Alzheimer’s disease and related dementias, integrating clinical, neuropathological, and multimodal research data collected from ADRCs nationwide.
Gates Ventures is the private Executive office of Microsoft co-founder and philanthropist Bill Gates and was founded 2008 in Kirkland, Washington, United States. It comprises his personal staff, a think tank on problems of health and global development, and a technology investment portfolio.