2027 Tauopathy Challenge WorkshopTM
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About the Workshop
Established in 2023 by the Rainwater Charitable Foundation, the Tauopathy Challenge Workshop is a funding program that convenes interdisciplinary experts around a single topic to address unmet needs in the primary tauopathies. Tauopathies, a class of neurodegenerative diseases characterized by the abnormal accumulation of pathologic forms of the tau protein, represent a significant health challenge. While the pathological role of tau protein aggregates in neurodegeneration is well-established, the precise molecular mechanisms driving their formation and neurotoxicity remain elusive.
You can learn more about our 2025 winners and 2026 workshop here.
2027 Topic
Each year a new topic is selected as the focus for the workshop which invites original ideas to explore primary tauopathies like progressive supranuclear palsy (PSP), corticobasal degeneration (CBD), Pick’s disease (PiD), and other frontotemporal lobar degeneration-tau (FTLD-tau) disorders.
The 2027 Tauopathy Challenge Workshop seeks to uncover the mechanisms by which intrinsic biological context including sex, age, metabolism, and cell identity can shape cellular vulnerability, resilience, and organelle crosstalk in the pathogenesis of primary tauopathies. Below is a non-exhaustive list of research topics that may guide one’s thinking. Note: broad screening approaches-alone without mechanism connection were not encouraged to apply.
- Biophysical and metabolic properties that define cell-type susceptibility to tau aggregation and stress;
- The role of misfolded tau to perturb phase separation, chromatin organization, or stress granule dynamics;
- Influence of hormonal, lipid, and energy metabolism pathways on proteostasis and cellular recovery;
- How upstream stresses from tau aggregation alter post-translational control of key metabolic and degradation enzymes;
- Do copathologies effect hormonal signaling and stress-adaptations;
- New molecular or imaging markers of cellular resilience that track disease severity.
Process
The RCF uses a letter of interest (LOI) process to solicit novel proposals from the research community. Through the LOI process, up to 12 participants are selected to move forward and invited to attend the 2-day in person workshop and then to apply for research grants providing up to $500,000 in direct costs over two years (indirects will not be granted); up to four awards will be funded, pending budget availability.
Important Dates
| Letter of Intent Submission Dates | May 14 – July 31, 2026 |
| Letter of Intent Notification Date | October 2, 2026 |
| Workshop Date / Location | January 26-28, 2027 / Miami, FL |
| Post-workshop Grant Notification Date | July 15, 2027 |
| Start of Post-workshop Grant Term | September / October 2027 |
