The  fiscal year 2021 omnibus spending bill includes a $300 million increase for Alzheimer’s and dementia research funding at the National Institutes of Health (NIH), including $15 million to fund and implement the BOLD Infrastructure for Alzheimer’s Act (P.L. 115-406), and advances the Improving HOPE for Alzheimer’s Act (S. 880/H.R. 1873).

This research funding increase was advocated for by the Alzheimer’s Association, the Alzheimer’s Impact Movement (AIM) and its nationwide network of dedicated advocates. Spearheaded by Sen. Roy Blunt (R-Mo.), Sen. Patty Murray (D-Wash.), Rep. Tom Cole (R-Okla.) and Rep. Rosa DeLauro (D-Conn.), the action demonstrates policymakers’ renewed commitment to advance Alzheimer’s and dementia research.

In addition to enabling new research into Alzheimer’s and all other dementia, the omnibus spending package includes $15 million to fund the BOLD Infrastructure for Alzheimer’s Act. Passed overwhelmingly in December 2018, the law directs the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to strengthen the public health infrastructure across the country by implementing effective Alzheimer’s interventions focused on public health issues such as increasing early detection and diagnosis, reducing risk, and preventing avoidable hospitalizations.

Medicare has covered care planning for individuals with cognitive impairment, including dementia, since January 2017. However, in the first year, fewer than 1% of seniors living with Alzheimer’s received the care planning benefit. The Improving HOPE for Alzheimer’s Act will give clinicians the knowledge and tools to better help people living with dementia and their families.

In addition to educating clinicians on care planning services available under Medicare, this act requires the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) to report on the barriers to individuals receiving care planning services and how the rate of usage can be increased.

The bipartisan Improving HOPE for Alzheimer’s Act was introduced by Sens. Debbie Stabenow (D-Mich.), Susan Collins (R-Maine), Ed Markey (D-Mass.), Shelley Moore Capito (R-W. Va.) and Bob Menendez (D-N.J.), and Reps. Paul Tonko (D-N.Y.), Jackie Walorski (R-Ind.), Earl Blumenauer (D-Ore.), Brett Guthrie (R-Ky.), Maxine Waters (D-Calif.) and Chris Smith (R-N.J.). Since its introduction, AIM advocates grew support for the bill resulting in nearly half of the Senate and over 200 members in the House having cosponsored the legislation.

This announcement is modified from the Alzheimer’s Association press release on December 21, 2020. Read their full release at this link.

The Penn Roybal Center on Palliative Care in Dementia is pleased to announce a new funding opportunity. Their pilot program seeks to revolutionize the development and testing of behavioral interventions that leverage behavioral economic insights and data science methods to improve palliative care delivery for persons with dementia (PWD) in long-term services and support (LTSS) facilities. Through an innovative partnership with Genesis HealthCare, one of the nation’s largest LTSS companies, successfully funded pilots will be implemented in Genesis HealthCare facilities.

Proposals for Stage IV larger-scale trials may be eligible for co-funding from the NIA IMPACT Collaboratory. Investigators interested in pursuing this option should send a 2-paragraph outline of the proposal and approximate trial duration and budget to Scott Halpern, MD, PhD (shalpern@upenn.edu) no later than January 15, 2021.

Please note the following about the Penn Roybal Center pilot program priorities:

1. They welcome applications related to the broad themes of palliative care delivery and advance care planning for persons with dementia in LTSS facilities and their family caregivers.
2. They specifically encourage applications that use methods from the fields of behavioral economics, data science, or both, but the most meritorious applications regardless of methodologic discipline(s) will be funded.
3. They will only fund applications that include a clinical trial as defined by the NIH (which may be a pilot trial designed to test intervention acceptability, preliminary efficacy, or other early-phase outcomes). Proposals for multi-year awards may include research in the first year using other methods that will provide essential data in direct support of a clinical trial (e.g., testing of feasibility, acceptability, methods of identifying patients, etc), if the proposal includes a clinical trial in later years.

The Penn Roybal Center will distribute up to $200,000 in direct costs for pilot funding this year. Individual applicants may request budgets from $25,000 to $150,000 in direct costs per year, and may propose projects lasting 1 to 3 years (though 3 years will only be considered for large-scale and highly impactful studies). Additionally, proposals for Stage IV larger-scale trials may be eligible for co-funding from the NIA IMPACT Collaboratory, in which case larger budgets may be requested.  Applications are due February 1, 2021 at 5 PM EST.

More information about the Penn Roybal Center on Palliative Care in Dementia pilot program can be found here. 
More information about the pilot program and application process can be found here: PennRoybal-Center-Pilot-Announcement_Year-3-RFA-002.pdf.