The Northwestern Alzheimer's Disease Core Center (ADCC) was established in 1996 and is currently in the final year of its second 5-year cycle. Three principal goals guide the activities of the Center: 1) The facilitation of research on the neurobiology, early diagnosis, temporal course, neuropsychology, risk factors, prevention, and therapy of dementias. 2) The establishment of collaborative interactions with other ADCs and local AD-related activities. 3) The transfer of relevant research benefits to patients, families and underserved populations. In order to serve these goals during the past 5 years covered by this progress report, our Clinical Core evaluated 1705 patients and their cognitively intact controls and maintains an active cohort of nearly 600 subjects while our Neuropathology Core acquired 194 brains and 646 DNA specimens and maintains a total inventory of 331 brains and 1186 DNA samples;34 research projects used our tissue resources and 48 projects used our patient resources;the availability of these resources contributed to 141 publications;we reviewed 29 and awarded 10 pilot grants which allowed the awardees to receive over $6M of funding;our yearly Alzheimer Day scientific sessions attracted 195 posters describing work at Northwestern University;our outreach work in underserved minority communities earned the praise of the Illinois Department of Public Health, the Chicago Department on Aging, the Mexican Consulate of Chicago and the Alzheimer's Association;our prize-winning website received nearly 45,000 visits per month;we are a designated Illinois State AD center, participated in ADCS, ADNI, LOAD and NCRAD;and received a NACC grant to lead a multi-ADC consortium on FTD. Fifty-one faculty members at Northwestern University are affiliated with the ADCC. Their funding for dementia-related research this current year is over $12M. During the last 5 years, research in this field has attracted nearly $50M of new direct funding to Northwestern University and has enabled the publication of over 250 papers, chapters and abstracts, some of which have received widespread media attention. The ADCC has played an active role in integrating these dementia-related clinical, research and outreach activities into a coherent whole and in providing the infrastructure for making them thrive.
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