Brain and Cognitive Health Program

Expression of Interest Open: 8 September 2026

Applications Close: 11:59pm Sunday 1 November 2026

Indicative Funding: $3 – 6 million per program over three years

Programs anticipated: 4 – 6 programs commencing in 2027 

Can we change the trajectory of cognitive ageing before substantial decline occurs?

Dementia develops over many years, often before symptoms are detectable. This creates an opportunity to intervene earlier, before substantial and potentially irreversible decline has occurred.

Snow Medical’s Brain and Cognitive Health Program seeks to move beyond identifying associations with healthy ageing towards the capacity to predict, understand and deliberately modify cognitive trajectory. 

What we are looking for?

We are seeking ambitious, multidisciplinary research addressing one or more of three complementary themes:

Theme 1: Brain-Body Mechanisms of Cognitive Ageing

We are seeking research that identifies and causally validates modifiable biological mechanisms through which systemic physiology influences brain function and cognitive decline. Relevant areas may include vascular and neurovascular function, metabolism, immune and inflammatory pathways, sleep and clearance, exercise-induced signals, autonomic regulation, stress responses and gut-brain signalling. The objective is to reveal new biological levers that can be manipulated to alter cognitive trajectory.

Theme 2: Mechanisms of Cognitive Resilience

We are seeking research that identifies the biological or neural mechanisms that distinguishes a resilient brain from a vulnerable one, establishes whether those mechanisms are causal and tests whether they can be deliberately engaged or enhanced. The objective is to move cognitive resilience from something we observe to something we can control.

Theme 3: Scalable Non-Invasive Predictive Markers and Interventions

We are interested in non-invasive technologies, interventions and platforms that can identify meaningful change earlier and/or modify cognitive trajectory, with a credible pathway towards broader accessibility. Approaches may include digital interventions and biomarkers, screening platforms, focused ultrasound, transcranial magnetic stimulation and other emerging technologies. The objective is to enable earlier identification and controllable, non-invasive ways of altering cognitive trajectory at meaningful scale. 

Across the Program

We are particularly interested in research that moves beyond associations towards mechanism and causality, connects mechanisms or interventions to meaningful cognitive outcomes, and has a credible pathway towards translation and impact. We welcome research across the risk continuum including cognitively healthy adults in midlife and older age, individuals at elevated risk, people with evidence of preclinical disease and people with mild cognitive impairment. 

What we are unlikely to support

The program is unlikely to support conventional pharmaceutical development programs, epidemiology or biomarker discovery without a credible pathway to causal validation, preclinical mechanistic studies without an in vivo cognitive signal or invasive interventions without a compelling rationale.

Funding & Eligibility

Snow Medical anticipates supporting 4–6 programs in 2027, with indicative funding of $3–6 million (AUD) per program over three years and potential for further funding where outcomes warrant scale and acceleration. Applications must be submitted through an Australian university or Medical Research Institute. Lead Applicants are expected to be independent investigators with demonstrated scientific leadership (minimum Level C). Multidisciplinary teams and collaborations are strongly encouraged. 

Expression of Interest

The EOI is deliberately concise and is intended to identify ambitious scientific concepts rather than fully developed research programs. Applicants are not expected to have a fully developed program or complete multidisciplinary team at EOI stage. Shortlisted teams will be invited to work with Snow Medical through Program Development to strengthen promising concepts and develop them into Full Program proposals. This may include refining the scientific strategy, identifying missing capabilities, facilitating collaborations and leveraging existing platforms, datasets or infrastructure.

Concepts may evolve substantially during Program Development. Full submission requirements and assessment criteria are provided in the EOI form.