Aicc - AI-powered coordinating center for the aitc program on aging and ad/adrd research

The National Institute on Aging awarded a cooperative agreement totaling $1.883 million to Yale University on September 1, 2026, to establish an AI-Powered Coordinating Center for the Artificial Intelligence and Technology Collaboratory (AITC) Program on Aging and Alzheimer's Disease and Related Dementias research under the Aging Research program (CFDA 93.866).

Yale will serve as the national hub for the AITC Program, embedding AI throughout administration, research commercialization, and stakeholder engagement. The coordinating center will establish AI-enhanced coordination infrastructure to support program management, communication, event organization, and cross-consortium integration using AI agents and knowledge graphs to streamline administrative workflows and organize consortium-wide digital resources following FAIR principles. Yale will strengthen the translational pipeline by expanding business development and regulatory and SBIR pathways for AITC innovations. The center will collaborate with regional AITC centers on award management, including solicitation, centralized review, and progress tracking, using established platforms and advanced AI analytics to enhance fairness and efficiency. Yale will ensure AITC technologies are accessible and responsive to older adults, caregivers, and community partners through continuous engagement, best-practice development, and participatory research strategies.

Work is performed in Connecticut. The award runs from September 1, 2026, through July 31, 2031.

Abstract

Alzheimer's disease and related dementias (ad/adrd) are complex and pressing health challenges for an aging population. Artificial intelligence (AI) has emerged as a transformative tool to accelerate discovery, integration, and translation across ad/adrd research. The NIA's artificial intelligence and technology collaboratory (aitc) program was launched to unite regional centers advancing AI for aging and dementia research. Our proposed AI-powered aitc coordinating center (aitcc) will serve as the national hub for this program, embedding AI throughout administration, research, commercialization, and stakeholder engagement to enhance efficiency, transparency, and impact. Specifically, aim 1 (administration) will establish an AI-enhanced coordination infrastructure to support program management, communication, event organization, and cross-consortium integration. By integrating AI agents and knowledge graphs, we will streamline administrative workflows, enable intelligent information/data sharing, and organize consortium-wide digital resources following fair principles. Aim 2 (commercialization) will strengthen the translational pipeline by expanding business development and regulatory and sbir pathways for aitc innovations, ensuring promising discoveries move more efficiently from research to real-world application. Aim 3 (research and consulting) will collaborate with aitcs on award management, including solicitation, centralized review, and progress tracking, leveraging both established platforms and advanced AI analytics to enhance fairness, efficiency, and data-driven decision-making. Aim 4 (stakeholder engagement) will ensure that aitc technologies are accessible, adoptable, and responsive to the needs of older adults, caregivers, and community partners through continuous engagement, best-practice development, and participatory research strategies. Together, these four aims will establish a scalable, AI- powered, team-science framework that unites the national aitc network, accelerates discovery and translation, and maximizes societal benefit.