The Rainwater Charitable Foundation (RCF), a major private funder of neurodegenerative research, disclosed today that it will award over $1 million in grants to three Fort Worth researchers. Each scientist will receive $350,000 to support a one‑year, translational project focused on targeting tau protein as a primary disease driver.
Why tau matters
Primary tauopathies are a group of neurodegenerative diseases marked by abnormal accumulation of tau protein. The conditions include progressive supranuclear palsy (PSP), corticobasal degeneration (CBD), Pick’s disease (PiD) and certain forms of frontotemporal degeneration (FTD). While scientific advances have deepened understanding of tau pathology, turning those insights into effective therapies remains a significant challenge.
Sprint to Lead program
The grants are part of the inaugural Sprint to Lead (S2L) drug‑discovery program, which seeks bold ideas that can accelerate the development of therapies for primary tauopathies during the hit‑to‑lead and lead‑optimization phases. By de‑risking preclinical candidates, the program hopes to generate data that can support later proof‑of‑concept studies and, when appropriate, IND‑enabling work.
Grant recipients
Three interdisciplinary teams were selected for their potential to move promising therapeutic candidates forward. Each will use the $350,000 award to advance preclinical work that could eventually lead to human trials. The RCF emphasized that the projects were chosen for their scientific rigor and translational focus.
Foundation perspective
“Despite remarkable innovations in our understanding of tau pathology, transforming insights into effective therapies remains one of the field’s greatest challenges,” said Jeremy Smith, President of the Rainwater Charitable Foundation. “We believe that supporting bold, translational science at critical stages of drug discovery is imperative to help bridge that gap. Through Sprint to Lead, we aim to advance promising therapeutic approaches and bring renewed hope to people living with these devastating neurodegenerative diseases.”
Local impact
The RCF, founded in the early 1990s by the late private‑equity investor Richard E. Rainwater, has a strong presence in Fort Worth. After Richard was diagnosed with progressive supranuclear palsy, the foundation expanded its mission to accelerate diagnostics and treatments for tau‑related disorders. To date, the foundation has invested more than $165 million in medical research and helped advance eight treatments into human trials.
Beyond the grants, the foundation continues to support the Tau Consortium, the Rainwater Prize, and the Tauopathy Challenge Workshop, all aimed at fostering collaboration among scientists, clinicians and industry partners.
Looking ahead
The Rainwater Charitable Foundation will open a new round of Sprint to Lead applications for 2027 later this year. Interested interdisciplinary teams are encouraged to submit letters of intent, with submission dates to be announced in the coming months.
For additional information about the grants, the foundation’s research initiatives, or how to apply for future funding, visit rainwatercharitablefoundation.org.
Original reporting: Fort Worth Report — read the source article.
