This is a new ADCC submission for the Joseph and Kathleen Bryan Alzheimer's Disease Research Center (Bryan ADRC) at Duke University Medical Center. The Bryan ADRC is a multidisciplinary research center established in 1985 which supports and conducts basic science and clinical research in Alzheimer's disease (AD) and related disorders with an emphasis on genetic predisposition, early diagnosis, autopsy confirmation, and educational outreach. Efforts include special focus on the inclusion of minority populations, specifically African-Americans and an emphasis on methodological synergy between our clinic-based and population-based studies. Overall specific aims are to: (1) provide expertise for the diagnosis, prevention, and treatment of mild cognitive disorders and their transition to dementia;(2) provide the structure and context for the ascertainment, evaluation, longitudinal follow-up and research participation of large MCI and AD patient samples and multiplex genetic families;(3) disseminate tissue and provide needed resources for research;(4) facilitate clinical and basic science research of AD and related disorders, leading to advances in the biology of AD with a particular emphasis on genomic approaches (genetics, translational studies, proteomics, metabolomics, etc). The Center's structure consists of four Cores along with a privately supported Genomics Core facilitated by new collaborations with the Institute of Genomic Sciences and Policy at Duke (IGSP) and Glaxo Smith Kline. The Cores include: Clinical; Data Management &Statistics; Neuropathology;and Education;along with two pilot projects per year (determined yearly). The Center integrates, coordinates, and fosters interdisciplinary collaborations at Duke and beyond. The Bryan ADRC provides important resources, e.g., well-characterized patients and control subjects, family information, tissue and biological specimens for the new genomic medicine initiatives. The public health significance brought to bear by the Bryan ADRC with its tremendous new links to technological resources in industry is an efficient, productive, and fully collaborative structure leading to the discovery of the cause(s) of AD and related illnesses with an ultimate goal of developing scientifically well-informed, rational, and effective approaches to the prevention, care, and treatment of memory disorders and overall improvement of health care delivery.
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