Federal Project Grant Award Summary

The University of California, Los Angeles received a $146,750 Project Grant from the National Institute on Aging (NIA) under the Aging Research program (CFDA 93.866), awarded July 1, 2026, with an ultimate completion date of April 30, 2031. This award supports research to identify molecular-neuropathological signatures across Alzheimer's Disease (AD), Frontotemporal Lobar Degeneration (FTLD), and Long COVID through single-cell spatial multi-omics analysis of postmortem brain tissues. The project will characterize neuropathological and transcriptomic alterations using advanced technologies including Xenium 5K and Phenocycler-Fusion platforms to define molecular signatures specific to amyloid and tau pathology at single-cell resolution—insights previously unattainable through conventional methods.

The research deliverables include three integrated aims: (1) comparative neuropathological and transcriptomic characterization of Long COVID relative to AD and FTLD; (2) same-slide single-cell spatial multi-omics analysis to define molecular-neuropathological signatures specific to amyloid, neuronal phosphorylated tau (p-tau), and glial p-tau pathology across the three conditions; and (3) functional genomics screening using CRISPR interference and activation (CRISPRi/A) in induced pluripotent stem cell (iPSC)-derived neurons to identify neuronal p-tau modulators. By integrating spatial multi-omics with functional genomics in human neuronal models, this project aims to elucidate the mechanisms underlying selective vulnerability to neuropathological features and identify potential therapeutic targets for neurodegenerative disease intervention.