? OVERALL COMPONENT The Northwestern ADC is in its 20th year. This renewal application describes the progress of the past cycle and a plan of action for the next 5 years, during which we will pursue the following principal goals: A) Support innovative research at Northwestern University on the biology, early diagnosis, risk factors, and treatment of dementias by bringing together basic and clinical investigators. B) Participate in national collaborations that leverage the strengths of the NIA Centers by using the UDS, transmitting data to NACC, and participating in ADNI, ADCS, NCRAD, LOAD and ADGC. C) Serve a leadership role in FTLD neuropathology, primary progressive aphasia (PPA) and unusually successful brain aging in keeping with the unique strengths of the Northwestern ADC in this area of aging and dementia research. D) Train fellows and junior faculty and attract new investigators to dementia research through accredited clinical fellowships and training grants. E) Ensure that patients, families, and underserved populations are beneficiaries of relevant advances through education, outreach, and novel life enrichment programs. The cores of the ADC are configured to serve the specific goals listed above. The Administrative Core will be responsible for the clinical, scientific and fiscal leadership of the entire ADC, as well as the coordination with national consortia and the selection of projects for pilot funding. The Clinical Core will maintain a cohort of characterized subjects recruited to address ongoing research priorities. The Data Management and Statistics Core will ensure that the data are stored in ways that maximize collaboration and that biostatistic analysis plays a key role in the design and interpretation of research. The Neuropathology Core will characterize patients who come to autopsy according to up-to-date criteria, and distribute tissue, slides, DNA, and data for local and national collaborations. The Outreach and Recruitment Core will work with the Clinical Core to enhance subject recruitment into the ADC, and will develop innovative life enrichment programs to serve patients and their families. The Research Education Component will oversee diversity recruitment for researchers and junior faculty and will coordinate training requirements for the Responsible Conduct of Research. The Executive Committee, composed of all key personnel, will formulate Center priorities based on local and national mandates and will review requests for patients, controls, tissue, and data according to these priorities.
- OVERALL Alzheimer's disease (AD) is one of the most urgent health care concerns facing the United States. The AD Centers funded by the NIA provide a national network of resources and researchers aiming to discover the causes and treatments of this disease and related dementias. The Northwestern ADC is part of this network and serves a leadership role in research on the causes and treatments of AD and related dementias and also on the factors that promote unusually successful brain aging.
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