Unlocking Innovation: The Alzheimer’s Insights AI Prize and Its Impact on Healthcare

There are currently more than 55 million people worldwide living with Alzheimer’s disease and related dementias. Recent breakthroughs in new treatments and diagnostics provide hope, but there is potential to accelerate the pace of discovery and development.

Last year, StartUp Health, in partnership with the Alzheimer’s Drug Discovery Foundation’s (ADDF) Diagnostics Accelerator (DxA) and Gates Ventures, the private office of Bill Gates, launched the Alzheimer’s Moonshot. This initiative breaks down silos and fosters meaningful collaboration between mission-aligned founders, funders, and partners, accelerating progress in preventing, managing, and curing Alzheimer’s and related dementias through the support of entrepreneurial innovation.

Now, the Alzheimer’s Disease Data Initiative (AD Data Initiative) is backing visionary AI solutions to accelerate Alzheimer’s research with the launch of a new million-dollar prize competition. The goal is to leverage agentic AI – AI that can plan, reason, and act autonomously – to help drive breakthroughs in Alzheimer’s disease and related dementias research.

Gregory Moore, MD, PhD, senior advisor to Gates Ventures and the Alzheimer’s Disease Data Initiative, sat down with us to share how you can join the competition to harness AI to radically accelerate Alzheimer’s disease research. The Alzheimer’s Insights AI Prize offers $1M to the winner for the agentic AI solution that can generate a powerful leap in the pace, scale, and reach of ADRD research.

Drawing from his unique background in both engineering and medicine, Dr. Moore discusses how AI could dramatically accelerate drug discovery and clinical trials by up to 50%. The initiative aims to break down traditional research barriers by harmonizing diverse data sets, from genomics to neuroimaging, making breakthroughs more accessible to the global scientific community.

The Alzheimer’s Insights AI Prize competition semi-finalist teams will be selected to present at a pitch event alongside the Clinical Trials on Alzheimer’s Disease (CTAD) Conference in San Diego this December, where innovators worldwide will present their ideas to a distinguished panel of judges from tech, academia, and venture capital. From there, up to three finalist teams will be invited to a final event at the AD/PD International Conference next March in Copenhagen, Denmark. With travel support available for participants, this initiative ensures global accessibility and collaboration.

Ready to learn how AI could revolutionize brain health research to potentially detect Alzheimer’s earlier, improve treatments, and work toward prevention and cures? Listen to this inspiring episode that bridges technology and medicine in the fight against dementia. Then visit Alzheimer’s Insights AI Prize to learn more and apply by September 12, 2025.

Do you want to participate in live conversations with industry luminaries? Members of our Health Moonshot Communities are leading startups with breakthrough technology-driven solutions for the world’s biggest health challenges. Fireside Chats, Expert Office Hours, and Peer Circles are benefits of our Health Moonshot Community Membership. To get involved, submit our three-minute application. If you’re mission-driven, collaborative, and ready to contribute as much as you gain, you might be the perfect fit.
» Learn more and apply today.

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Will Gluck: Annie