Alzheimer's by the numbers
Where the Alzheimer's work is happening, from public trial, publication and grant records. Updated October 13, 2026.
432recruiting interventional trialsClinicalTrials.gov
10,171papers published in 2025OpenAlex
$2.6BNIH grants to outside institutions, fiscal year 2025 (3,314 projects)NIH RePORTER
154new NIH R01 grants in fiscal year 2025NIH RePORTER
Most published institutions
Papers in 2024–2025. KOLs cluster where the work is.
- Harvard UniversityUS469
- University College LondonUK420
- Massachusetts General HospitalUS316
- Washington University in St. LouisUS307
- UK Dementia Research InstituteUK274
- UCL Queen Square Institute of NeurologyUK274
- University of PittsburghUS252
- University of GothenburgSweden244
- Columbia UniversityUS223
- University of California, San FranciscoUS220
Most NIH funding
Grants in fiscal year 2025. Funded labs are building and buying.
- Washington University90 grants$100M
- University of Southern California75 grants$98M
- Columbia University Health Sciences80 grants$79M
- University of California, San Francisco112 grants$68M
- University of Michigan at Ann Arbor56 grants$67M
- Johns Hopkins University76 grants$65M
- University of Wisconsin-Madison51 grants$61M
- Massachusetts General Hospital112 grants$61M
- University of Pennsylvania73 grants$54M
- University of Pittsburgh at Pittsburgh60 grants$54M
Where trials are recruiting
Recruiting interventional trials with a site in each country.
United States225
China57
France46
Canada43
Italy30
Spain29
United Kingdom26
South Korea26
Phase 1: 52 · Phase 2: 90 · Phase 3: 44 (a two-phase study counts in both). 22% led by industry.
Fastest-growing research topics
Keywords on papers, 2022 to 2025. New topics bring new voices.
- lecanemab59 → 4016.8×
- amyloid-related imaging abnormalities40 → 1724.3×
- anti-amyloid monoclonal antibodies41 → 1563.8×
- plasma biomarkers40 → 1172.9×
- early Alzheimer's disease58 → 1502.6×
- proteostasis37 → 952.6×
Sources, as of October 13, 2026:
ClinicalTrials.gov (Recruiting interventional studies, condition: Alzheimer disease); OpenAlex (Papers whose main topic is in the OpenAlex topic "Alzheimer's disease research and treatments"); NIH RePORTER (NIH extramural grants in fiscal year 2025 in NIH's "Alzheimer's Disease" research category (RCDC); sub-projects, NIH in-house research and contracts excluded).
Where KOLs show up
Alzheimer's research has moved quickly since anti-amyloid antibodies reached patients, and the fastest-growing keywords above show where new voices are appearing. Name the area you sell into, then look in these places.
Congresses
AAIC, the Alzheimer's Association International Conference, is the largest meeting in the field. CTAD focuses on clinical trials, and AD/PD covers Alzheimer's and Parkinson's together. See which organizations are going in our guides to CTAD 2026 and SfN 2026.
Research centers and networks
In the US, the National Institute on Aging funds Alzheimer's Disease Research Centers at major universities, the Alzheimer's Clinical Trials Consortium (ACTC) runs multi-site trials, and ADNI, the Alzheimer's Disease Neuroimaging Initiative, anchors biomarker and imaging research. Their center directors and site investigators make a natural starting list.
Start from the numbers
The institutions publishing the most and winning the most NIH funding are where Alzheimer's KOLs cluster, and the fastest-growing keywords show which topics are gaining new voices. For the method, read how to find key opinion leaders, or search any field with the KOL Finder.