The mission of the University of Pennsylvania (Penn) Alzheimer's Disease Core Center (ADCC) is to increase understanding of Alzheimer's Disease (AD) and related disorders as well as prodromal phases of dementia in the community served by Penn, foster interactions between this ADCC and ongoing research programs on AD and related disorders at Penn, stimulate the development of new research initiatives on these neurodegenerative conditions through Pilot grants and increase the quality and quantity of research overall on AD and related disorders at and beyond Penn. Substantial progress has been made in the current funding period of the Penn ADCC towards the accomplishment of these goals, and this will continue in the renewal period. Since the mechanisms leading to behavioral abnormalities and the selective degeneration of the nervous system in AD and related disorders remain poorly understood, the Penn ADCC provides a unique and cost-efficient resource for outreach, education and research that will elucidate the pathobiology of these disorders and lead to strategies for the early diagnosis, prevention and/or amelioration of AD and related disorders. To accomplish its mission, the Penn ADCC continues to support: 1) An Administrative Core (Core A) to oversee and direct the activities of the ADCC; 2) A Clinical Core (Core B) to coordinate the recruitment and continued assessment of subjects with AD, or related disorders and control subjects including women and minorities; 3) A Data Management and Biostatistics Core (Core C) to support research through effective data management and biostatistical expertise; 4) A Neuropathology Core (Core D) to establish postmortem diagnoses on subjects followed in Core B, and to obtain and bank fluids and tissues from ADCC subjects for diagnostic studies and research; 5) An Education and Information Transfer Core (Core E) to foster interest in and awareness of AD and related disorders as well other activities of the Penn ADCC, in addition to developing outreach initiatives to urban minorities in the West Philadelphia and Latino communities served by the Penn ADCC; 6) A Pilot Grant Program that stimulates novel lines of research on AD and related disorders to launch new and independently funded studies. In sum, the Penn ADCC will continue to foster research and educational efforts to increase understanding of the clinical and molecular basis of AD and related disorders, as well as the broad effects of this late-life dementia on our society.
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