CZI Neurodegeneration Challenge Network

The Neurodegeneration Challenge Network (NDCN) is a research funding programme of the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative (CZI) that launched in December 2018 to back high-risk, collaborative basic science on neurodegenerative disease. It ran several closed calls: Collaborative Pairs pilots, Ben Barres early career awards, Collaborative Science awards and a patient-partnered rare disease call. Prion disease is a very small part of it. Of the 133 projects on the CZI list, exactly one concerns prions: a Collaborative Pairs cycle 2 pilot, "Functional Genomics of Neural Excitability in Prion Disease", held by Adriano Aguzzi (University of Zurich) and Madhuvanthi Kannan (University of Minnesota), aimed at the role of G-protein-coupled receptors in prion pathophysiology. The earlier check of the CZI Rare As One programme found no prion link; this pass found nothing that changes that, and the prion route runs through NDCN instead. Information only.

Key facts

  • The NDCN launched in December 2018 as a CZI programme for neurodegeneration research, and its first Collaborative Pairs call opened in October 2019.
  • The first Collaborative Pairs cycle was announced on 19 August 2020: USD 4.5M of phase one seed money for 30 pairs of researchers, 18-month projects, with grants starting 1 December 2020.
  • CZI lists four closed NDCN calls with stated amounts: Collaborative Pairs (cycle 1 USD 30.1M, cycle 2 USD 12.8M), Ben Barres Early Career Acceleration Awards (cycle 1 USD 42.5M, cycle 2 USD 15.6M), a Patient-Partnered Rare Neurodegenerative Disease call (USD 10M) and Collaborative Science Awards (USD 9M).
  • Summing those listed figures gives about USD 120M; this is a calculation from the listed numbers, not a total CZI states.
  • The cycle 2 Collaborative Pairs call ran from a letter of intent portal opening on 9 May 2023 to full applications due 21 September 2023, with 1 March 2024 as the expected award start.
  • Cycle 2 offered USD 200,000 per pair for an 18-month pilot (phase 1) and USD 400,000 per year for four years for accelerated projects (phase 2); the cycle 1 call had offered USD 150,000 for phase 1.
  • Cycle 2 scope covered mechanistic basic science on neurodegeneration plus memory, cognition and sleep neuroscience, and excluded clinical, translational and drug development work and for-profit applicants.
  • Each pair had to include at least one early or mid-career investigator and could not have received joint funding before.
  • The only prion-related NDCN award found is the cycle 2, phase 1 pilot to Adriano Aguzzi (University of Zurich) and Madhuvanthi Kannan (University of Minnesota), with the stated aim of uncovering the role of G-protein-coupled receptors in prion disease, using high-throughput functional CRISPR assays and optical recording of neuronal activity.
  • The full 133-project list was read and no other entry mentions prions or GPCRs.
  • The University of Minnesota research portal records a CZI-sponsored project with a nearly identical title, "Functional genomics of neuronal excitability in prion diseases", run by Kannan from 1 March 2024 to 31 December 2025 and marked finished; no amount is given.
  • No award amount is published for the prion pilot on either page. By the call terms the phase 1 figure would be USD 200,000 per pair, which is an inference, not a stated value.
  • CZI's own programme page now redirects to a Biohub blog on a seven-year NDCN impact report, which suggests the programme has moved under Biohub; the report itself was not opened.

Timeline

  1. 2018NDCN launched by CZI.
  2. 2019First Collaborative Pairs call opened.
  3. 2020Cycle 1 phase 1 awards announced (19 August), USD 4.5M for 30 pairs.
  4. 2020Cycle 1 grants start (1 December).
  5. 2023Cycle 2 Collaborative Pairs LOI portal opened (9 May); LOIs due 22 June, full applications due 21 September 2023.
  6. 2024Cycle 2 awards expected to start (1 March); Minnesota record shows the prion pilot starting the same day.
  7. 2025Minnesota record shows the prion pilot ending (31 December), status finished.

Last checked 1 November 2026

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