Inaugural 2026 Seedling Grant Awardees

Through the Dementia and Alzheimer’s Research Initiative (DARI), Texas A&M has awarded $1.325 million to support 11 multidisciplinary research projects focused on improving brain health and accelerating innovation in Alzheimer’s disease and related dementias.

The inaugural DARI Seedling Grants were awarded following a rigorous, nine-month review process:

• 112 pre-proposals submitted from across Texas A&M University

• 25 finalist teams invited to submit full proposals

• Projects evaluated through internal and external expert review, a study section panel and administrative review

The selected projects reflect the breadth and depth of dementia-related research underway at Texas A&M, spanning biomedical science, engineering, public health, architecture, education and beyond.

The inaugural awardees address the full continuum of dementia research, including early detection, biomarkers, prevention strategies, novel therapeutics, AI-enabled diagnostics, caregiver support and built-environment solutions.

• Sensor-Augmented Multimodal ‘Digital Apathy Signature’ for the Early Detection of Apathy and Dementia Risk
  Mark Benden, PhD—School of Public Health

• Development of Blood-Brain Barrier-Penetrating Peptide Shuttle Vectors for the Treatment of Neuroinflammatory and Neurodegenerative Diseases
  Peter Davies, MD, PhD—Naresh K. Vashisht College of Medicine

• Evaluation of Clostridioides Difficile Virulence Factors in the Development of Dementia and Alzheimer’s Disease
  Marjorie Pizarro-Guajardo, PhD—College of Arts & Sciences

• Innate Immune Signaling & LINE-1 Retrotransposons as Precision-Based Biomarkers for Alzheimer’s Dementia
  Kenneth Ramos, MD, PhD—Institute of Biosciences & Technology

• Intranasal, Magnetically Guided Delivery of Clusterin Enhancers to Slow Down Cognitive Decline in Alzheimer’s Disease
  Ashok Shetty, PhD—Naresh K. Vashisht College of Medicine

• Disrupted Circadian Rhythms as a Driver of Inflammation and Cognitive Decline: Targeting Neuroimmune Mechanisms for Early Intervention
  Karienn Souza, PhD—Naresh K. Vashisht College of Medicine

• Repurposing the Smoking Cessation Drug Cytisine as a Prophylactic Against Conversion of Mild Cognitive Impairment to Alzheimer’s Disease and Related Dementias
  Rahul Srinivasan, PhD—Naresh K. Vashisht College of Medicine

• Nutrient-Sensing GHSR Mediates Transgenerational Neurotoxicity of Environmental Toxicant BPA to Promote Neuroinflammation and Alzheimer’s Disease
  Yuxiang Sun, MD, PhD—College of Agriculture & Life Sciences

• Gait Biomarkers for Early Diagnosis of Alzheimer’s Disease & Related Dementias
  Jenna Yentes, PhD—College of Education & Human Development

• Multimodal AI Reasoning Models for Early Diagnosis and Understanding of Alzheimer’s Disease
  Tianbao Yang, PhD—College of Engineering

• Reimagine Homes for Living with Dementia: Support Safety, Independence, and Autonomy through a Smart Homecare Digital Twin
  Xuemei Zhu, PhD—College of Architecture