Aldon Mark Berger Mental Health Imaging Research Grant

Previous Recipients

BIG NEWS: The funding amount for the Aldon Mark Berger Mental Health Imaging Research Grant has increased to $250,000 this cycle!

With the generous support of the estate of Elaine D. Berger, an endowment dedicated to supporting research and education in mental health has been established for the ASNR. The Foundation of the ASNR now invites applications for neuroimaging research to better understand the pathophysiological underpinnings of behavioral health and mental health disorders with the goal of improving treatment and outcomes. This grant mechanism supports innovative, high-impact projects using neuroimaging in conjunction with other methodologies to investigate the neural mechanisms of psychiatric disorders, mental health conditions, and potential therapeutics and other interventions including topics such as anxiety disorders, ADHD, autism spectrum disorder, mood disorders, eating disorders, obsessive-compulsive disorder, personality disorders, PTSD, schizophrenia, chronic pain, and substance and alcohol use disorders.

The application cycle for this grant is now open! Applications due by October 30, 2026, at 9:00 am CT. Applications should be submitted via https://asnr.smapply.io/.

Download the full Grant Prospectus and Application Scoring Scale here

  1. Candidates must be North American members of ASNR in good standing with an MD, PhD, DO, or equivalent degree.
    • MD or DO candidates must be board-certified or board-eligible in Radiology by either the American Board of Radiology (ABR) or the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada (RSPSC). Physician candidates must have completed a residency in Diagnostic Radiology and completed at least 1 year of an ACGME-approved or equivalent fellowship in Neuroradiology or Pediatric Neuroradiology by the beginning of the award period.
    • All candidates should have an active or imminent academic appointment, such as faculty, instructor, research staff, or post-doctoral student, within a Radiology department.

  2. Applications from investigators at all career stages are welcome. An applicant can only submit one application as Primary Investigator (PI) per cycle but can be a Co-PI on more than one grant per cycle.

  3. More than one applicant from the same institution may submit a separate application within the same grant cycle.

  4. Applicants who have held any of the Foundation of the ASNR Grants, the RSNA Research Scholar, GERRAF, or ARRS Grant Award in the past must declare their previous grants on the application. The applicant is considered ineligible if they are or will concurrently be holding any of the previously mentioned grants, while applying to or holding a grant from the Foundation of the ASNR. Concurrent Seed grants and prior Trainee (resident and fellow) grants do not disqualify an applicant.

The research proposal must have a clearly stated, testable hypothesis, or hypotheses, and well-developed aims. Background and scientific rationale should highlight knowledge gaps and explain how the application will fill such gaps.

Application Schedule

  1. The deadline for application receipt is 9:00 AM CT, Friday, October 30, 2026. Applications should be submitted via https://asnr.smapply.io/. Applicants will need to create an account and log in to select the award for which you would like to apply.

  2.  Grant recipients will be selected in early 2027, with subsequent notification of the recipient and institution.

Formatting Requirements

  1. All application materials must use a minimum 11-point font (Arial or Times New Roman) and a minimum 0.5-inch margin. All sections must be single-spaced. No appendix materials will be accepted.

  2. Applications that do not follow the page limits and formatting requirements below will be disqualified or truncated, at the discretion of ASNR and the Foundation of the ASNR.

Application Components

All components must be combined into a single PDF document, in the order listed, and uploaded as one file via https://asnr.smapply.io/. Page limits are noted with each component and are enforced as described above.

Separately from this document, applicants will be required to fill out a research selection method form, upload a current CV and to respond to a set of demographic questions within the online application. These items are not counted toward the page limit.

  1. Cover Page (no page limit)
    Include the project title; applicant name, degrees, and academic rank; institution and department; the award for which you are applying; and applicant contact information, including mailing address, telephone number, and email address. Date the page as of submission.

  2. Table of Content (no page limit)
    List each component of the application in the order below, with the page number on which it begins.

  3. Specific Aims (1 page)
    State the specific aims of the proposed research and the hypothesis or hypotheses to be tested.address:
    • Your qualifications for this grant
    • Why your background and interests are a good fit
    • How the project relates to your future career goals
    • How the grant would support and advance those goals

  4. Research Strategy (6 pages)
    Organize this section under the following headings:
    • Significance
    • Innovation
    • Preliminary Studies
    • Approach

  5. References (no page limit)
    References are not included in the page limit.

  6. Human Subjects (if applicable) (no page limit)
    Describe the involvement of human subjects and plans for their protection.

  7. Animal Care and Approval (if applicable) (no page limit)
    Describe the involvement of vertebrate animals and the status of institutional animal care and use approval.

  8. Budget and Budget Justification (1 page)
    An itemized budget is required as part of the grant proposal submission. List itemized expenses that will be incurred in this project, grouped into the main categories of Personnel, Equipment, and Other (including, for example, scanner time costs). Provide justification for all budget expenses. No indirect costs will be awarded.

  9. Chair Letter of Support (1 page)
    A letter from the Department Chair confirming that the application is endorsed by the department and that the department is committed to providing the resources for the proposed project.

  10. Other Letters of Support/Collaboration (no page limit)
    Please indicate the most important collaborator(s) or other mentors for this project, their role, and whether this is a new or previously established collaboration.

  11. Proposed Next Steps (½ page)
    If your project is successful, what next steps do you anticipate taking by year 1 and by year 2 following the grant, including specifics regarding sources of funding?

All those with interest in the award, or employees of an institution that may be involved in the award, shall recuse themselves from voting on such applications. If applications are received from the institutions of the Foundation of the ASNR and Research Committee Co-Chair(s) will recuse themselves the responsibility of coordinating review of the applications from their home institution.

The ASNR Research Committee, or its delegate, reviews applications and provides recommendations to the Foundation of the ASNR for the grant recipients.

Grants will be designated and administered by the Foundation of the ASNR.

The Aldon Mark Berger Mental Health Imaging Research Grant Review Scoring Scale can be found at the end of the downloadable prospectus.

Funding & Budget

  1. The total funding amount is up to $250,000 over 2 years, which will be paid for in two equal installments on July 15, 2027, and July 15, 2028. Any unused portion must be returned to the Foundation of the ASNR. The proposed allocation of funds (salary support and other research costs) should be specified in a detailed line-item budget submitted with the full proposal.

  2. The funding will go directly to the Institution or the department of Radiology as direct costs only. No overhead or indirect costs are provided. An itemized budget is required as part of the award proposal submission. Funds (up to $125,000 per year) may be allocated as the investigator sees fit but must be justified in the application. Examples of fund use might include:
    • Salary support for the investigator and/or associated staff (e.g., research assistants, clinical coordinator, statistical support, and/or MD or PhD collaborators)
    • Appropriate scanner time access
    • Processing software and other types of software
    • Cloud computing resources
    • Costs related to attending conferences, workshop courses or training courses (e.g., computer programming courses, specialized image analysis courses, or any other workshops)

Institutional Compliance

  1. Institutional IRB approval is not required at the time of proposal submission but either approval or a waiver must be submitted to ASNR before fund disbursement and grant announcement can be made.

  2. No grant will be made without prior confirmation from the Program Director or Department Chair that the applicant’s proposal will be supported in full by the host institution.

Transfer, Duration & Extensions

  1. This grant may be transferred to another institution, following approval by The Foundation of the ASNR, for the designated individual, provided the new institution abides by the original agreement and the awardee can conduct the proposed work in the new setting. This request must be submitted in writing to The Foundation of the ASNR at least 30 days prior to the transfer. Each institution sponsoring the recipient will receive a portion of the funding that is in proportion to the length of time that research was performed at their institution. If a decision is made by The Foundation of the ASNR not to allow transfer of the grant to another institution, the original institution sponsoring the recipient will receive only the funds that are proportionate to the length of time the research project was performed at that institution.

  2. The grant is not transferable to another individual.

  3. Grants will be approved for two years. A No Cost Extension of the terms of the grant may be requested to extend the research period to 12 months beyond the original ending date. Approval of an extension does not include the awarding of additional funds. To request an extension, the grantee must complete a request form to be reviewed by the Co-Chairs of the Foundation of the ASNR and Research Committee. Requests must be submitted at least 30 days prior to the original ending date. Please note that only one No Cost Extension request will be considered per project.

Recognition & Dissemination

  1. In May 2027, Aldon Mark Berger Mental Health Imaging Research Grant recipients will be announced at the Foundation Awards Session during the ASHNR/ASNR 2027 Joint Annual Meeting (May 14–19), on the Foundation’s website, and via E-News to ASNR membership. Recipients will also receive an invitation to the 2027 President’s Gala.

  2. The recipient will be invited to present their research at the 69th ASNR Annual Meeting in Las Vegas in May 2029.

Publication Expectations

The American Journal of Neuroradiology (AJNR) welcomes the best science and encourages authors to submit publications to AJNR before considering other journals.

To ensure accountability and track the progress and outcomes of funded research, all recipients are required to submit three reports over the course of the grant: an impact statement, an interim progress report, and a final report. These reports allow the Foundation of the ASNR to monitor how funds are being used, understand the scientific and clinical impact of the research, and inform the continued development of the grant program. Recipients will be provided with a template for each report. Below is a list of the required reports and other reporting obligations, with their due dates:

  1. A brief impact statement on the research’s broader impact and outcome is due approximately 6 months into the grant period (December 31, 2027).

  2. An interim progress summarizing progress against specific aims, expenditures to date, and any changes in direction is due approximately 12 months into the grant period (June 30, 2027).

  3. The final report building on the progress report with a summary of clinical impact, publications/patents, and program feedback will be due 90 days after project completion (September 30, 2028).

  4. Two return-on-investment surveys will be conducted 3 and 5 years after receiving the grant.