Mount Sinai ADRC (Sano): Neuropathology Core (Core D) ? Research Summary The overarching aim of the Neuropathology core is to promote research in AD by providing exceptionally well characterized postmortem human brain tissue and related specimens to ADRC and non-ADRC researchers within and outside the Mount Sinai neuroscience community and to support the ADRC cores, including the Clinical, Biomarker, Genetics, Education and Data Management cores. The Core's enduring goal and practice of providing accurate assessments and well-characterized brain tissues and derivatives to the neuroscience community is precisely aligned with the National Plan to Address Alzheimer's Disease. Emerging and potentially paradigm-shifting neuropathological concepts, such as AD subtypes, depend on the availability of well- characterized brains from extensively phenotyped donors for research. Yet, there is an alarming shortage of well annotated specimens and neuropathologists with expertise to support the research community. The overall aim of this core is to continue to maintain and operate the Brain Bank in such a way as to meet the dementia research needs of neuroscience laboratories optimally while providing state-of the art neuropathologic characterization of all brain specimens referred to the bank by the clinical core. In addition, Core D endeavors to anticipate the research needs of the future by banking multiple non-CNS specimens to enable: a) the translation of findings in the CNS to readily accessible biomarkers; and b) studies of systemic and environmental influences on dementia neuropathology.
The specific aims of the Brain Bank/Neuropathology Core are to: maintain, manage and expand a large dementia brain biorepository; enable and facilitate state-of-the-art translational research; determine and record quantitatively the extent and distribution of relevant lesions present within each brain specimen; provide training opportunities for new core leaders and neuropathology researchers.
