Ludwig Pilot Grant Program

Carol and Gene Ludwig Pilot Grant Program (PGP) is designed to support innovative research projects with the potential to define the principles that guide inflammatory interactions within the brain, with an emphasis on neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer’s Disease through the support of innovative research. The program provides crucial seed money for investigators to explore innovative new directions and gather preliminary data for future funding opportunities. The awards are categorized into 1-year Pilot Project Awards (PPA) and 2-year Development Awards (DA), designed to foster high-impact and transformative research that extends beyond ongoing funded projects.

The Carol and Gene Ludwig Program for the Study of Neuroimmune Interactions in Dementia is proud to announce the recipients of the 2026 Pilot Grant Program

Research Team 1 – Neuroimmune cross-talk in Alzheimer’s disease

Kristen Brennand, Professor, Departments of Psychiatry and Genetics
Rong Fan, Professor, Departments of & Biomedical Engineering and Pathology

Research Team 2 – To develop astrocytic mitochondrial cofactor boosting strategy in Alzheimer’s disease

Hongying Shen, Associate Professor, Department of Cellular and Molecular Physiology
Jaime Grutzendler, Professor of Neurology and Neuroscience

Research Team 3 – Elucidating Neuroimmune Interactions in Parkinson's Disease Using a Novel Humanized Mouse Model

Le Zhang, Assistant Professor, Departments of Neurology and Neuroscience
Rui Chang, Associate Professor, Departments of Neuroscience and Cellular and Molecular Physiology

Marcello DiStasio, Assistant Professor, Departments of Pathology and Ophthalmology

Peripheral–Central Immune Crosstalk in Alzheimer’s Disease: Functional Characterization of Choroid Plexus Macrophages

Steven Tang, Assistant Professor, Department of Molecular Biophysics and Biochemistry

Allosteric control of the PD-1 immune checkpoint as a path to small-molecule therapies for dementia

Peng Xu, Associate Research Scientist, Departments of Neuroscience
and Cell Biology
Cellular function and role in disease of VPS13C, a Lewy body dementia gene.

Congratulations to all the recipients! We look forward to seeing the advancements and breakthroughs that these projects will bring to the study of neuroimmune interactions in dementia.

The Carol and Gene Ludwig Program for the Study of Neuroimmune Interactions in Dementia is proud to announce the recipients of the 2025 Pilot Grant Program (PGP).

• Emilia Favuzzi, Assistant Professor, Department of Neuroscience
  Impact of peripheral immune challenges on microglia and neurons across aging

• Shawn Ferguson, Associate Professor, Departments of Cell Biology & Neuroscience
  Intersection of Innate Immunity with Lysosome Quality Control in ALS-FTD

• Yifei Cai, Associate Research Scientist, Department of Neurology
  Investigate the role of complement pathway in axonal pathology in Alzheimer’s disease

• David Martinez, Assistant Professor, Department of Immunobiology
  Encephalitic viral infection, inflammation, and onset of neurodegenerative disease

• Le Zhang, Assistant Professor of Neurology and of Neuroscience and Rui Chang, Associate Professor of Neuroscience and of Cellular and Molecular Physiology
  Elucidating Neuroimmune Interactions in Parkinson's Disease Using a Novel Humanized Mouse Model

Congratulations to all the recipients! We look forward to seeing the advancements and breakthroughs that these projects will bring to the study of neuroimmune interactions in dementia.