Program Overview
Letter of Intent deadline: March 17, 2026, at 2:00pm ET
The Weston Family Foundation aims to catalyze and scale science-based approaches to significantly improve the health and well-being of Canadians. The Foundation takes a leadership role in tackling large problems that are under-addressed by supporting research that is particularly relevant to the health of Canadians and that empowers Canadians to improve their health and wellbeing.
The Foundation, through the Weston Brain Institute, is pleased to announce the re-launch of the Rapid Response program with a focus on biomarkers. The Rapid Response 2026: Biomarkers program provides early-stage seed funding to support high-risk, high-reward translational research aimed at accelerating the validation to clinical implementation of biomarkers for neurodegenerative diseases of aging (NDAs).
Seven projects were awarded through the Rapid Response 2025 program. To learn more about these projects, click here.
Program details:
Eligible projects should:
- Be translational/applied research that can accelerate the validation to clinical implementation of biological, functional, and digital biomarkers for NDAs, with a preference for, but not limited to, enabling early detection and timely and accurate diagnosis of dementia.
- Biomarkers must address unmet needs in the staging, prognosis, diagnosis, monitoring of disease progression, and differentiation of NDAs.
- Projects should enable the development of biomarkers from the validation stage forward.
- Prioritize approaches that are scalable, minimally invasive, and feasible for implementation across diverse settings.
- Have preliminary data to support the rationale, hypothesis, and feasibility of the project.
Funding available per project: Up to $300,000 over 18-24 months.
Important dates:
- Program Information Webinar (session 1): February 3, 2026, at 1pm ET – Register here
- Program Information Webinar (session 2): February 17, 2026, at 1pm ET – Register here
- Letter of Intent deadline: March 17, 2026, at 2pm ET
- Award announcement: November 2026
For more information about this program, including details on project and applicant eligibility, program review criteria and expected project outcomes, please see the relevant documents below.
We welcome you to contact us with any program-related inquiries including questions about the eligibility or scope of your project. Please send your questions to info@westonbrain.org.
Relevant documents: