The Clinical Core is responsible for recruiting and maintaining a well-characterized pool of participants to support research on cognitive decline associated with aging, AD and cerebrovascular disease (CVD). Participants are evaluated at two sites: USC Health Sciences Campus and Rancho Los Amigos Natl Rehab. Center, where there are also two State-supported Alzheimer Disease Research Centers of California. The English and Spanish modules of the National Alzheimer Coordinating Center Uniform Data Set (UDS) provide the framework for standard evaluations and follow-up;a Framingham Cardiovascular Risk Profile is also obtained. Participants are evaluated from three special cohorts: the Los Angeles Latino Eye Study (LALES), the Long Beach Longitudinal Study (LBLS, Project 1: Course of Cognitive Change in Late Adulthood;PI: E. Zelinski), and the Chinese Eye Study (CHES, Project 3: the Mild Cognitive impairment in a Chinese-American Eye Study;PI: L. Zheng). The core provides the main source of brain donations (Brain Research Study) and biological material for the neuropathology core, and contributes participants to clinical trials, including the Alzheimer's Disease Cooperative Study (ADCS) and Citalopram in AD (CITAD, PI: L. Schneider). It interacts closely with the education core (EIC,M. Gatz) in recruitment and retention activities;with the data core (W. Mack) to manage data acquisition, flow, and referrals;and with the administrative core (H. Chui, C. Finch) to set strategic directions, including prioritizing research.
Specific aims are to: 1. Coordinate with the EIC to recruit and retain research participants, with a special emphasis on Latino and other underserved populations. 2. Perform standardized UDS evaluations for participants with no or mild cognitive impairment and dementia, including those from LALES, LBLS Project 1, and CHES Project 3. 3. Perform UDS annual follow-ups of participants in ADRC studies, including ADNI, LBLS, CHES-MCI, and the autopsy study. 4. Coordinate with the Neuropathology Core to recruit, and follow subjects for autopsy, and obtain tissues and genetic materials for ongoing and future cooperative projects (e.g., GWAS) 5. Coordinate with the Data Core, to submit UDS data to NACC on initial and follow-up evaluations 6. Develop and maintain a registry of well-characterized participants to support ADRC
to public health lies in faciliating participation in research leading to new knowledge about the causes and cure of dementia and in disseminating known behavioral changes that can reduce the burden of cognitive impairment and dementia that is associated with modifiable risk factors. The focus on Latinos responds to the increased number of Latino elderly and projected dementia cases in this population.
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