Many of the scientific advances that have been made in the study of Alzheimer's Disease (AD) have been due to both the availability of well characterized AD patients and their tissue and to the collaborative efforts between clinical and basic scientists. The study of AD at the University of Alabama at Birmingham has been fostered on this model. In the past, disparate scientific disciplines have come together through the Program Project and R01 format to study this uniquely human illness. The Alzheimer's Disease Center Core (ADCC) which is proposed is the next logical progression for our study of AD at this University, as it would multiply the opportunities for research, further unite our efforts to study AD, and aid in the recruitment of new investigators, and enhance the visibility of AD related issues by allowing new educational opportunities. The ADCC, as proposed, is composed of four Cores: Administrative, Clinical, Neuropathology, and Information Transfer. The Administrative Core will provide the organizational base for the planning and implementation of all activities directed toward the fulfillment of ADCC goals. Within this Core, specific mechanisms are provided for overseeing and monitoring ADCC activities, quality assurance, budgetary management, and recruitment of new investigators. The latter goal is reflected in the submitted Pilot Projects, which investigate both basic science (i.e., cingulate cortex anatomy; sodium channels) and clinical (oral communication; competency) issues relevant to AD. The Clinical Core will serve as a resource for all University investigators by recruiting and longitudinally assessing 50 mildly demented AD patients per year and by the recruitment and longitudinal evaluation of 25 normal Black subjects per year. Additionally, this Core will also begin to assess the behavioral disturbances occurring in AD as well as help acquire tissue for the Neuropathology Core and provide patient file management and biostatistical services. The Neuropathology Core will also serve as a resource for University investigators by acquiring and making available CNS tissue and AD, normal older and younger individuals, providing specific diagnoses on patients followed in the Clinical Core, assessing temporal lobe pathology in AD patients, and serving as a resource unit for anatomical and immunocytochemical techniques. The Information Transfer Core will provide the educational component of the ADCC by providing multiple educational activities for the lay public and health professions. Specifically, the Black community and family practice, internists and general practitioners will be targeted. The implementation of an ADCC at UAB will further unite our specific community to bring to bear its full resources into the flight to conquer this devastating illness called Alzheimer's Disease.
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