AFTD and partners award $2.1 million in first year of new FTD Diagnostic Biomarkers Initiative
The Association for Frontotemporal Degeneration (AFTD), Alzheimer's Association, Rainwater Charitable Foundation, and the Robertson Foundation have come together to award three grants totaling $2.1 million on FTD diagnostic biomarkers.
King of Prussia, PA, Jan. 02, 2026 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The Association for Frontotemporal Degeneration (AFTD), Alzheimer's Association, Rainwater Charitable Foundation, and the Robertson Foundation have come together to award three grants totaling $2.1 million on frontotemporal degeneration (FTD) diagnostic biomarkers. This is the first year for the new initiative, following an earlier AFTD biomarkers program, which ran from 2016-2020, made possible by the Samuel I. Newhouse Foundation.
Identifying and verifying biomarkers to improve access to diagnosis for FTD is a critical gap in clinical care. Diagnosis for FTD takes significantly longer than many other neurodegenerative disorders due to its heterogeneity, complexity, overlapping features with other disorders, and early onset. Tools for timely and accurate diagnosis of FTD pathology could also improve understanding about related neurodegenerative diseases, especially in instances where there are overlapping symptoms or co-pathologies.
The Holloway Family Fund at AFTD was essential to the launch of this initiative. "Too many families struggle for years without an FTD diagnosis, which is not only incredibly difficult for those affected, it hinders research progress. I’m proud to be supporting this initiative through the Holloway Family Fund to bring hope and agency to the community," AFTD Board Member Kristin Holloway said.
"We have seen tremendous progress in Alzheimer's biomarkers in recent years; expanding that progress into other diseases that cause dementia - such as FTD - is an essential positive step for patients, researchers and clinicians,” said Heather M. Snyder, Ph.D., Alzheimer’s Association Senior Vice President of Medical & Scientific Relations. “These grants are an important opportunity to take a step forward in advancing earlier detection and diagnosis, tracking the effects of therapies and identifying people for research studies. We are proud to be a part of this initiative.”
After a rigorous review process administered by AFTD with the help of external expert reviewers, three research projects have now been funded that will be completed in the next two years. The three proposals share a strategy of measuring FTD markers in biofluids, such as spinal fluid and blood, with the goal of developing diagnostic tests. Each was awarded roughly $700,000:
- Nicolas Barthélemy, PhD, Washington University, “Tau Citrullination in Biofluids as a Diagnostic Biomarker for Tauopathies.”
- Andrew Stern, MD, PhD, Brigham and Women’s Hospital, “Detection of misfolded TDP-43 in FTD patient biofluids.”
- Leonard Petrucelli, PhD, Mayo Clinic Jacksonville, “TDP-43 cryptic targets in FTD.”
"We are thrilled to help fund three innovative proposals on fluid biomarkers, as advancing tools for early detection of disease is one of our central goals at the Rainwater Charitable Foundation,” said Glenn Harris, Ph.D., Director of Research Partnerships, Business Development & the Drug Discovery Lead at the Rainwater Charitable Foundation.
“Supporting programs like these may one day improve clinical trial readiness and access to FTD treatments.”
Planning for a second round of research grants is underway. The program will continue to seek to fund the development of approaches that could become widely accessible, either as diagnostic tools or as screening tools to help identify individuals to be referred to a specialist. A new Request for Proposals is anticipated in early 2026.
“At AFTD, we are always considering how to lower barriers to diagnosis so that patients can have improved access to resources and treatments,” said Penny Dacks, Ph.D., Chief Scientific Officer at AFTD and President of the FTD Disorders Registry. “We look forward to the day that clinicians and families can benefit from screening tools to identify if a specialty visit is needed, followed by tools to aid that specialist in accurately diagnosing every type of FTD,” she continued.
PJ Lepp Association for Frontotemporal Degeneration 484-584-0156 ext. 8916 plepp@theaftd.org
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