The University of California, Davis Alzheimer's Disease Center (UCD ADC) has evolved to focus upon the scientific theme of exploring the heterogeneity of AD in a racially and ethnically diverse population. This theme developed in response to the unique strengths of the personnel involved with the ADC, success in minority recruitment and a number of newly funded research programs supported by the ADC. In addition, the ADC will continue to support and develop research related to AD and the related dementias both locally and nationally through its many collaborations. The ADC is composed of 6 cores: Administrative, Clinical, Education and Information Transfer (EITC), Pathology, Biostatistics and Data Management, and Neuroimaging. The Administrative Core provides overall guidance for scientific, policy, and procedural aspects of the ADC in addition to ensuring collaboration and communication throughout the ADC program. The Clinical Core will evaluate patients and controls to provide a large cohort of AD patients with research diagnostic evaluations who are available for cross sectional studies as well as studies that will collect additional data and a racially and ethnically diverse longitudinally followed cohort of subjects with normal cognition, mild cognitive impairment and dementia. This cohort will include individuals with coexisting cerebrovascular disease who are followed to autopsy. Minority recruitment will continue through successful outreach. The Neuropathology Core will perform brain retrieval for subjects in the longitudinal cohort who have enrolled in the autopsy program, will characterize the extent and severity of Alzheimer and cerebrovascular pathology, and maintain a bank of fixed and frozen tissue and DNA. The EITC will provide education to both the community and professionals, as well as assist in recruitment of minority subjects to the longitudinal cohort. The Neuroimaging Core will acquire MRI and PET data on members of the longitudinal cohort and provide quantitative and semi-quantitative data on white matter hyperintensities, hippocampal atrophy, and cerebral atrophy. The Data Management and Statistics Core will provide both statistical support and consulting to ADC research, and will maintain the already operational database that links all components of the ADC to one another to facilitate cross disciplinary research and reporting requirements.
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