The UCLA Alzheimer's Disease Research Center (ADRC) supports cutting edge research in an environment that mentors junior investigators;attracts numerous researchers;hosts a pilot project program that allows investigators to gamer preliminary data for more advanced studies;collaborates with the National Alzheimer's Coordination Center (NACC) as well as other Alzheimer disease (AD) related investigators locally, nationally and internationally;extends AD research to women and minorities;and works closely with community and advocacy groups including the Alzheimer's Association. The UCLA ADRC is comprised of 6 cores and proposes 3 projects in this renewal application. Cores include: Administrative, Clinical, Data Management and Statistics, Neuropathology, Recruitment and Education, and Neuroimaging and Biomarkers. The three projects include an investigation of MRI techniques applicable to clinical trials and population studies (Project 1;Liana Apostolova;Junior Investigator), a study of the comparative information to be gained from FDDNP and Pittsburg Compound B molecular imaging and their relationship to CSF and plasma biomarkers (Project 2;Gary Small);and a study of antibodies that inhibit amyloid 6 and tau aggregation and may represent novel interventions in AD (Project 3;David Eisenberg). The Theme of the UCLA ADRC is The Therapeutic Imperative, emphasizing the urgency of developing new treatments for AD. Resource use, core organization, project selection, collaboration, and educational activities are prioritized according to their integration with the Center theme. Clinical Core is following 120 patients;Recruitment and Education Core sponsored lectures reaching 20,000 participants;Neuropathology Core performed autopsies on Center patients who died, and non-Center patients to augment tissue distribution. This application has a major emphasis on biomarkers as a key aspect of advancing new therapies for AD. A familial AD cohort is included in this renewal application and a new minority site (Harbor View Medical Center) has been added. Innovations in advancing research are proposed in each Core of this proposal. Each core has responded to criticisms and recommendations from the 2008 review in this renewal application.
The UCLA ADRC theme of the Therapeutic Imperative reflects the commitment of UCLA investigators to shortening the time horizon to finding effective treatments for AD. Biomarkers are a key element in the search for effective therapies and will be advanced by investigators collaborating with the UCLA ADRC. Attracting minorities to research is critically important, and UCLA has been successful in this difficult task.
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