Aging affects the senses and the mind everywhere, but the tools to understand and respond to it are not distributed evenly. A new funding opportunity from the Center for Global Health Equity (CGHE) and the Michigan Sensory Health and Aging Research Collaborative (Mi-SHARC) is designed to close that gap.
This call is a joint effort between two University of Michigan initiatives. The Center for Global Health Equity (CGHE) builds interdisciplinary research partnerships that address health disparities in low-resourced settings around the world, including within the U.S., with a strong focus on genuine, co-designed collaboration rather than research exported from Ann Arbor. Mi-SHARC, the Michigan Sensory Health and Aging Research Collaborative, is a newer university-wide initiative that connects investigators and research staff across disciplines to advance the study of sensory health and aging in Michigan, the US, and globally. By working together on this call, the two centers are broadening their reach and leveraging each other's networks, pairing CGHE's global partnership model with Mi-SHARC's disciplinary breadth to open the opportunity to a wider pool of collaborators.
The grant offers up to $35,000 per award for interdisciplinary research on sensory and cognitive health and aging. Full proposals are due through InfoReady by Nov. 13. The opportunity is built around co-leadership. Eligible projects must pair a University of Michigan faculty member with a global collaborator working in a low-resource setting, and applications must draw faculty from at least three distinct U-M schools, colleges, or units. Reviewers will look for genuine co-design and equitable collaboration between partners.
The scope is broad by design. Projects can address cognitive aging and dementia, sensory health domains such as vision, hearing, vestibular, olfactory, and gustatory function, or the interface between the two, particularly among older adults. Proposals might focus on the behavioral, environmental, social, or structural factors shaping cognitive and sensory health, or on prevention, diagnosis, treatment, rehabilitation, caregiving, and access to assistive technologies. Work that translates findings into clinical practice, community-based programs, health systems, or policy is especially encouraged, as is work that reduces disparities in access to care for underserved populations.
Awards support up to twelve months of project work and are intended to generate preliminary data or proof-of-concept findings that position teams for future external funding. Applications are open to University of Michigan faculty across all schools and colleges, at any career stage.
Proposals are due Nov. 13, 2026. View in InfoReady.
Questions about the grant can be directed to [email protected].
