The numbers behind the donor circle tell a story of patient, cumulative investment. Since its founding nearly 20 years ago, Friends of BrainHealth has raised $6 million and awarded 69 seedling grants, providing critical early support for scientists pursuing new approaches to understanding, protecting and strengthening brain health. Seed funding of this kind occupies a peculiar and often decisive niche in the research ecosystem: too small to attract federal grants on its own, yet large enough to let a scientist test a bold idea, generate preliminary data and build the evidence base required to win substantially larger awards. The 2026 cycle, which invested more than $466,000 in innovative research focused on brain health and dementia prevention, was structured with exactly that trajectory in mind.

A notable structural change this year expanded the funding beyond its traditional Emerging Scientists category to include a new Visionary Scientist tier, with three awards granted to seasoned principal investigators. The distinction matters scientifically as well as administratively. Emerging scientist grants typically support junior researchers or trainees testing a first independent idea, often under the mentorship of a senior faculty member. Visionary scientist awards, by contrast, allow established investigators to pursue higher-risk, higher-reward questions that might otherwise struggle to find backing before preliminary results exist. Together, the two categories span the full arc of a research program, from a trainee’s first pilot dataset to a senior scientist’s ambitious new direction.

The Visionary Scientist portfolio illustrates the breadth of contemporary dementia prevention research. Zhengsi Chang, PhD, and Ziwei Zhang, PhD, recipients of the Lyda Hill Philanthropies Visionary Scientist Award, will investigate biomarker dynamics underlying cognitive resilience across heterogeneous courses of Alzheimer’s disease. The question they are tackling is one of the most intriguing in the field: why some individuals whose brains show pathological hallmarks of Alzheimer’s disease continue to think clearly, a phenomenon researchers call cognitive resilience. By tracking how biological markers change across different disease trajectories, the project aims to identify what distinguishes brains that resist decline from those that do not, knowledge that could reshape how resilience itself becomes a therapeutic target.

Fellow Visionary awardee Francesca Filbey, PhD, recipient of the Marlane Miller Visionary Scientist Award, will lead a longitudinal neuroimaging study examining brain resilience and metabolic health in the context of GLP-1-based therapy. The project taps into one of the most closely watched intersections in medicine today. GLP-1 receptor agonist drugs, originally developed for type 2 diabetes and later approved for weight management, have been associated in large observational studies with reduced risks of neurodegenerative disease, prompting intense scientific interest in how metabolic function and brain health are entwined. By using repeated neuroimaging over time, Filbey’s study is positioned to generate direct visual evidence of whether metabolic therapy is associated with measurable changes in brain structure or function, moving the field beyond correlational claims toward mechanistic understanding.

The third Visionary award, the Jennifer and Peter Roberts Visionary New Scientist Award, went to Dan Krawczyk, PhD, for a project investigating a light-guided training intervention designed to improve brain health and reduce dementia risk. The project reflects a broader shift in dementia science from purely pharmacological approaches toward interventions that actively train cognitive function. Non-invasive light-based guidance combined with structured training represents the kind of novel, testable idea that seed funding is designed to nurture: inexpensive to pilot, but capable of producing preliminary efficacy data that could justify far larger trials if early signals are promising.

The Emerging Scientist awards, meanwhile, target problems ranging from measurement science to caregiver support. Mary Glen, MBA, recipient of the Cindy and Charlie Feld Emerging Scientist Award and mentored by Sandra Bond Chapman, PhD, will work to establish the reliability and validity of the BrainHealth Index as a tool for monitoring the earliest changes in brain health. The project addresses a foundational challenge in prevention research: if the goal is to intervene before decline begins, scientists need measurement instruments sensitive enough to detect subtle change and stable enough to trust across repeated assessments. Demonstrating psychometric rigor for such an index is unglamorous work, but it is the kind of groundwork on which entire prevention programs depend.

Two further emerging projects extend the portfolio into risk profiling and caregiver well-being. Gayathri Maruthy, PhD, recipient of the Linda and Mitch Hart Emerging Scientist Award and mentored by Jeff Spence, PhD, will develop dementia risk and resilience profiles from eight comprehensive determinants, examined through both cross-sectional and longitudinal analysis. The multivariate approach reflects growing recognition that dementia risk is not a single number but a pattern, emerging from the interaction of vascular, metabolic, cognitive, lifestyle and psychosocial factors. Ashley Campos, MS, and Stephanie Rodriguez, MS, recipients of the Lindsay and Craig Wilson Emerging Scientist Award and mentored by Bart Rypma, PhD, will test a therapeutic mindfulness-based approach to improve well-being among dementia caregivers. The caregiver focus acknowledges a frequently overlooked dimension of the dementia crisis: the millions of family members whose own physical and mental health deteriorates under the sustained strain of caregiving, and for whom scalable, evidence-based support remains scarce.

The seventh award was decided in the room. Three finalists competed through a live audience vote in a format the organizers liken to a television pitch competition, with Christine Dugas, PhD, taking the Audience Choice Emerging Scientist Award for a project exploring the eye-brain connection in early detection of dementia risk. Mentored by Sandra Bond Chapman, PhD, Dugas will examine how retinal vascular health, measured with a simple, non-invasive retinal scan, relates to neuronal health and dementia risk factors, with change tracked using the BrainHealth Index. The project rides a genuine wave of scientific momentum. The retina is, in effect, an extension of the central nervous system that can be photographed through the pupil, and mounting evidence links retinal vessel changes to cerebrovascular and neurodegenerative disease. A cheap, quick, scan-based risk marker would be a transformative screening tool if validated, which is precisely the kind of high-leverage question early philanthropic dollars can help answer.

Behind the individual awards lies a deliberate strategic logic connecting private philanthropy to public scale. The Dementia Prevention and Research Institute of Texas represents a new statewide funding mechanism, and the 2026 Friends of BrainHealth awards are framed as a pathway for Center for BrainHealth researchers to strengthen the scientific foundation needed to pursue substantially larger state grants and expand promising work into broad-scale translational research. Andy Walsh, 2026 campaign co-chair, described the philosophy in a statement accompanying the announcement, saying that Friends of BrainHealth was founded on the belief that philanthropy can help turn promising ideas into meaningful discoveries, and emphasizing that donors act as active partners in advancing the science rather than passive check-writers. The model, in which a community of supporters funds pilot science, engages directly with researchers and helps build the foundation for discoveries intended to improve lives across Texas and beyond, offers a case study in how modest, well-aimed gifts can compound: nearly seventy grants and six million dollars later, the seedlings are being cultivated into applications for a state-level research enterprise.

Subject of Research: Philanthropic seed grants for brain health and dementia prevention research at the Center for BrainHealth

Article Title: Friends of BrainHealth invests in research poised for greater statewide impact

Article References: Friends of BrainHealth invests in research poised for greater statewide impact. (n.d.). Original publication

Image Credits: AI Generated

DOI: Not provided

Keywords: Friends of BrainHealth, Center for BrainHealth, dementia prevention, Alzheimer's disease, seed funding, GLP-1 therapy, cognitive resilience, BrainHealth Index, retinal imaging, caregiver well-being, neuroimaging, DPRIT

At the heart of the initiative is a simple but consequential premise: brain health is not fixed, and proactive training in how we think can change trajectories at any stage of life. Rather than treating cognitive performance as an innate trait that students either possess or lack, the program treats it as a trainable capacity, one that can be deliberately developed through structured practice, assessment, and feedback. This philosophy reflects the Center for BrainHealth’s broader research mission, which has long focused on translating laboratory findings about neuroplasticity, attention, and reasoning into practical tools that people can apply in classrooms, workplaces, and everyday life.

The practical architecture of the program is deliberately layered. Faculty and staff will receive training on core brain health principles and strategies that they can then reinforce with students, with the added benefit of applying the same techniques to their own cognitive lives. This train-the-trainer model is significant from a research standpoint: it embeds brain health concepts into the daily interactions of the campus rather than confining them to occasional seminars. Students, meanwhile, will take part in tailored workshops targeting three higher-order cognitive capacities that the Center for BrainHealth has studied extensively: strategic attention, integrated reasoning, and innovation. These are the same domains emphasized in the center’s SMART brain health training, a strategy-based toolkit developed and tested by researchers over roughly thirty years.

Beyond the core cognitive curriculum, the initiative addresses the affective and social dimensions of student life. Topic-driven sessions will tackle stress management, mindfulness, and social connection, recognizing that emotional regulation and interpersonal bonds are not peripheral to academic achievement but tightly intertwined with it. Decades of research in cognitive neuroscience and psychology have linked chronic stress to impaired working memory and reduced prefrontal efficiency, while social isolation has been associated with measurable declines in cognitive health across the lifespan. By folding these topics into a single campus-wide program, the partnership acknowledges that thinking well depends on living well, and that a student’s capacity for complex reasoning cannot be separated from their emotional and social circumstances.

Measurement is another defining feature of the initiative. Participants will have access to regular brain health assessments, allowing them to track changes in cognitive performance over time rather than relying on subjective impressions. This longitudinal approach mirrors the methodology of The BrainHealth Project, the center’s landmark study launched in 2020, which aims to identify actionable strategies for optimizing brain health throughout life and to clarify the dynamic relationships among lifestyle factors, biological markers, brain training, and cognitive performance. The center’s proprietary BrainHealth Index, a measure designed to chart an individual’s upward or downward brain health trajectory from whatever their starting point, exemplifies this philosophy of treating brain fitness as a dynamic, modifiable trajectory rather than a static snapshot.

To ensure the program outlives its initial rollout, the partnership includes ongoing access to self-directed online training and application tools through the BrainHealth Platform. Sustainability is a persistent challenge for campus wellness initiatives, which often flourish briefly and then fade when grant cycles end or institutional priorities shift. By building digital, self-paced resources into the program’s foundation, the collaborators are attempting to convert a structured intervention into a durable part of the campus culture, one that students and employees can return to throughout their time at the college and beyond.

Leaders on both sides have framed the partnership in terms that go well beyond test scores. Lori Cook, PhD, CCC-SLP, director of clinical research at the Center for BrainHealth, said the initiative builds on years of collaboration with Dallas College and reflects more than three decades of cognitive neuroscience research demonstrating that it is never too soon to become proactive about the brain’s fitness and performance. By integrating evidence-based tools and strategies into the campus experience, she noted, the program equips students as well as faculty and staff with actionable ways to become more strategic and intentional about how they think, manage challenges, and thrive in an increasingly complex world.

Dallas College administrators have emphasized the whole-student dimension of the effort. Thaddeus Mantaro, PhD, dean of student health and wellness, said the college is deeply committed to supporting students academically, emotionally, and socially, and described the partnership as bringing innovative, science-backed resources directly to the community, with optimism about its potential to enhance student well-being, strengthen academic success, and contribute to improved retention. Carlos Cruz, EdD, associate vice chancellor of the college, added that Dallas College recognizes students as more than learners, understanding that academic success is closely linked to personal growth, emotional well-being, and overall health. Retention, in particular, is a high-stakes metric for community colleges, where students often balance coursework with work and family obligations, and where even modest improvements in persistence can translate into substantially better life outcomes.

The scale of the institution involved gives the initiative considerable reach. Founded in 1965, Dallas College operates seven campuses—Brookhaven, Cedar Valley, Eastfield, El Centro, Mountain View, North Lake, and Richland—along with a dozen centers across Dallas County. As one of the largest community colleges in the United States, it serves more than 133,000 credit, workforce, and continuing education students annually, offering associate degrees and career and technical certificates in more than 100 areas of study, as well as bachelor’s degrees in education, nursing, software development, and management. It is also the largest provider of dual credit in Texas, serving 30,000 high school students through 64 dual credit programs. That breadth means the BrainHealthy Campus framework will be tested across an unusually diverse population, from teenagers earning college credit to working adults retraining mid-career.

Financial support for the initiative comes from philanthropic sources, with grants from The Meadows Foundation and The Hoglund Foundation fueling the program at Dallas College. The collaboration also arrives at a moment when the Center for BrainHealth is broadening its regional footprint, having recently appointed new members to its 2026-27 Advisory Board, drawing leaders from business, health care, science, technology, real estate, and philanthropy who share a commitment to advancing brain health across North Texas and beyond. For researchers, the partnership offers a real-world laboratory for studying how proactive cognitive training performs at scale in a post-secondary setting, a context that differs markedly from the controlled cohorts of typical laboratory studies. For the tens of thousands of students who pass through Dallas College each year, it offers something rarer: a systematic, science-driven attempt to treat the brain itself as the most important asset a learner brings to campus, and one worth training as deliberately as any subject on the syllabus.

Subject of Research: A research partnership applying cognitive neuroscience-based brain health training and assessment to improve student well-being and academic outcomes at a large community college.

Article Title: New BrainHealthy Campus initiative aims to strengthen community brain health and enhance academic outcomes

Article References: New BrainHealthy Campus initiative aims to strengthen community brain health and enhance academic outcomes. (n.d.). Original publication

Image Credits: AI Generated

DOI: Not provided

Keywords: brain health, cognitive training, Center for BrainHealth, Dallas College, higher education, student well-being, academic outcomes, neuroscience, SMART training, BrainHealth Index, retention, community college