The Coins for Alzheimer’s Research Trust Fund (CART) will award $700,000 in Alzheimer’s research grants in May 2017. Awards will be made to six researchers from US institutions.

The 2017 grants mark two records for CART. The $700,000 figure is the highest dollar amount of grants ever awarded by the organization. After all, CART grants are funded by the generosity of Rotarians, starting with donations of coins and cash at weekly Rotary Club meetings.

Since CART’s inception in 1995, CART has always put one hundred percent of all donations to research grants. It took four years of donations to fund the first grant of $100,000 in 1999. Remarkably, the 2017 grants were funded by one year of donations. CART has truly come a long way.

The second record for the 2017 grants is the number of grants awarded. Six researchers, with six cutting-edge research projects will receive 2017 CART grants. This funding approach allows CART to grow the body of scientific knowledge around Alzheimer’s and fill the innovation pipeline moving toward a cure.

The 2017 CART Grants will be awarded at events in May 2017, to be held in Columbia, SC and in Orlando, FL.

2017 CART Grant Recipients

$250K – Christelle Anaclet, University of Massachusetts Medical School
$150K – Michael Karin, University of California, San Diego
$100K – Tsuneya Ikezu, Boston University School of Medicine
$75K – Philip Copenhaver, Oregon Health Science University
$75K – Tong Li, Johns Hopkins School of Medicine
$50K – Claudio Torres, Drexel University College of Medicine

The Coins for Alzheimer’s Research Trust Fund (cartfund.org) is a project of the Rotary Clubs of North America. Founded in 1995 in Sumter SC, CART provides financial support for Alzheimer’s research projects that are yet to be supported by extensive preliminary data but have the potential to substantially advance biomedical research.