These partnerships help us make new connections in the research world, often bringing together historically disconnected fields of research.

These impactful research initiatives are co-created with our partners and target diverse bioscience frontiers.

American Heart Association – Allen Initiative in Brain Health and Cognitive Impairment

Together with the American Heart Association, the Frontiers Group supports three large-scale, multidisciplinary research teams who are merging research of the brain and the blood vessels to develop a new understanding of — and ultimately better preventions and treatments for — age-related brain disorders such as Alzheimer’s disease.

Through the American Heart Association-Allen Initiative in Brain Health and Cognitive Impairment, launched in 2018, these two organizations have committed $43 million to fund innovative approaches in combating age-related cognitive decline.

As people live longer in many parts of the world, Alzheimer’s and other age-related dementias are on the rise, projected to reach more than 75 million people worldwide by 2030. To date, no effective therapy has been developed for these disorders, which are not only deadly, but also exact a high financial and emotional toll on society.

• An AHA-Allen Initiative team co-led by Tony Wyss-Coray, Ph.D., & Marion Buckwalter, M.D., Ph.D. is delving into the molecular secrets that make young blood different from old, and whether those molecules could protect against age-related brain diseases.
• An AHA-Allen Initiative team led by Rusty Gage, Ph.D. is exploring the idea that brain aging and cognitive decline are caused by a failure of interconnected systems in our bodies that trigger a domino-like cascade of disease.
• An AHA-Allen Initiative Team led by Mukesh K. Jain, M.D. is studying how red blood cells and the lining of blood vessels work together as a unit to keep our brains healthy, and whether new therapies could keep them functioning for longer.

American Heart Association – Allen Distinguished Investigators

In 2017, the American Heart Association partnered with us to award two Allen Distinguished Investigator awards of $1.5 million each for studies of the extracellular matrix, the proteins and molecules that make up a “living glue” surrounding our cells, as it relates to the human heart and heart disease.

• Suneel Apte, M.B.B.S., D. Phil. is investigating how the extracellular matrix is broken down in the cardiovascular system, both the physiological breakdown that occurs during heart development, and excess breakdown which may contribute to vascular disease.
• Jeffrey Holmes, M.D., Ph.D., is studying how information is coded and stored in the extracellular matrix over the long term. His team aims to understand how these proteins are deposited and modified, how frequently they turn over, how changes in the proteins influence neighboring cells, and how aging influences the process overall.

Blood Cancer Discoveries Grant Program

The Blood Cancer Discoveries Grants program is a collaboration launched in 2019 between The Paul G. Allen Frontiers Group, The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society, and The Mark Foundation for Cancer Research. This program has identified and provided more than $6.75 million in funding to frontier scientists with deep experience in blood cancers to conduct critical basic research on leukemia, lymphoma, myeloma, and myelodysplastic syndromes.