UT Dallas BrainHealth donors fund seven dementia-focused projects with an eye on new state research money

Donors to UT Dallas' Center for BrainHealth invested more than $466,000 in research this year, and the center has named seven projects that will get its 2026 awards, covering the spotting of early brain changes, dementia risk, caregiver well-being and Alzheimer's disease. The center says the seed money is meant to help its scientists chase much larger state grants.

The center announced the 2026 Friends of BrainHealth awards Friday. The winners were recognized Sept. 28 at the Ramona Jones Friends of BrainHealth Scientist Selection Luncheon at Dallas Country Club, where six projects were named and three finalists then vied for one more award decided by an audience vote.

According to the center, the awards are meant to ready its scientists to go after multimillion-dollar grants from the Dementia Prevention and Research Institute of Texas, known as DPRIT, and to grow promising work into larger studies over the next decade.

Three senior scientists

For the first time, the program added a Visionary Scientist category for established principal investigators:

• Zhengsi Chang and Ziwei Zhang will study biomarker changes behind cognitive resilience in people whose Alzheimer's disease follows different courses.
• Francesca Filbey will lead a long-term brain imaging study of metabolic health and brain resilience in people on GLP-1-based therapy.
• Dan Krawczyk will test a light-guided training program meant to boost brain health and lower dementia risk.

Four emerging scientists

• Mary Glen will check whether the center's BrainHealth Index is reliable and valid for tracking the first signs of brain change, with Sandra Bond Chapman as mentor.
• Gayathri Maruthy will use eight factors to sort people into profiles of dementia risk and resilience, mentored by Jeff Spence.
• Ashley Campos and Stephanie Rodriguez will test a mindfulness-based approach to improving the well-being of dementia caregivers, mentored by Bart Rypma.
• Christine Dugas, the audience choice winner, will compare a noninvasive scan of the retina's blood vessels with known dementia risk factors and use the BrainHealth Index to measure change over time, also mentored by Chapman.

Two decades of seed grants

In nearly 20 years, the center says, the Friends of BrainHealth donors have collected $6 million and handed out 69 seed grants.

"This year, our community of supporters invested more than $466,000 in innovative research focused on brain health and dementia prevention," said Andy Walsh, a co-chair of the 2026 campaign. He said the group's donors "are active partners in advancing the science."

The award amounts for individual projects were not listed in the announcement. Several awards carry donor names, including the Lyda Hill Philanthropies Visionary Scientist Award and the Cindy and Charlie Feld Emerging Scientist Award.

Sources

centerforbrainhealth.org