CARE

CARE — Execution

Supports United Kingdom efforts to understand endocrine factors in cognitive aging and dementia risk.

CARE — Cutting Alzheimer's Risk through Endocrinology — is a Wellcome Leap program within the organization's $50 million Women's Health initiative, targeting a reduction in women's lifetime risk of Alzheimer's disease through endocrine mechanisms. The program's stated ambition is to cut that risk in half by 2050, which Wellcome Leap estimates could prevent approximately 54.5 million cases of Alzheimer's disease globally. Research is organized across three thrust areas: biomarker development, neuroimaging, and predictive modeling, with the explicit aim of generating tools that can be deployed in clinical decision-making rather than purely advancing basic science.

Eighteen research teams have been selected through a competitive solicitation that is now closed; selected principal investigators include researchers from UCSF, UC San Diego, UC Santa Barbara, University of Arizona, University of Chicago, Temple University, University of New South Wales, and University of Cologne, among others. No new applications are being accepted. Wellcome Leap programs are generally open to universities, nonprofits, for-profit organizations, and research institutes; individuals cannot apply directly. Individual award amounts are not disclosed; CARE is part of a broader $50 million women's health program envelope. Teams operate under cooperative agreements with milestone accountability to Wellcome Leap.

Organizations with expertise in women's neuroendocrinology, Alzheimer's biomarkers, or reproductive aging research should monitor wellcomeleap.org/care for any future solicitation activity. The high concentration of established academic medical centers among the 18 selected teams signals that CARE is oriented toward groups with clinical infrastructure and biobank access. Future Leap solicitations in this domain would reward applicants who can demonstrate measurable precision in early Alzheimer's risk stratification specifically in women, not broad dementia research.