As a part of the USC Alzheimer Disease Research Center competitive renewal, the Imaging Core will continue to serve the overall mission to provide high-quality MR and PET imaging resources to the local and broader AD research community. The ADRC Imaging Core will provide core resources, including MR physics and PET expertise, multi-scanner sequence and protocol development, image data quality control and management, research collaboration, and a global framework for conducting AD neuroimaging research. The Imaging Core is led by a well-integrated and collaborative team, including Arthur Toga (Core Leader), Judy Pa (Core Co-Leader), Meredith Braskie, Danny JJ Wang, Nasim Sheikh-Bahaei, and Paul Thompson, who together provide expertise in vascular, functional, and structural imaging and its analyses for 3T and 7T MRI, and PET. We propose 5 specific aims that provide an imaging framework for all ADRC projects; perform high quality control of all imaging data; develop technical and scientific approaches for ultra- high field 7T MRI; assist in PET protocol development and quality control; and conduct education and training in modern imaging techniques. Taken together, these goals will serve the USC ADRC?s unifying scientific theme of vascular contributions to Alzheimer disease: risk factors, neurovascular and metabolic mechanisms, and risk reduction.
