The Pacific Northwest Dementia and Aging (PANDA) Neuropathology (NP) Group is a cooperative effort between the NP Cores of the Alzheimer's Disease Centers (ADCs) at Oregon Health & Science University (OHSU) and the University of Washington (UW) that was initiated in July 2003. Primary motivations for forming PANDA NP Group were the unique geographic and demographic relationship of these two ADCs, already established extensive collaboration between faculty, the complementary nature of resources within the two NP Cores, and the new flexibility permitted by National Institute on Aging in organizing the required NP function, including emphasis on cross-center standardization and resource sharing.
The Specific Aims of the PANDA NP Group are: (1) provide diagnostic expertise to the diverse population of the Pacific Northwest by providing family members of the deceased and physicians involved in their care with timely autopsy reports based on the most current standardized diagnostic criteria (2) facilitate research by collecting, storing and distributing a highly accessible, but appropriately safeguarded, repository of well-prepared brain tissue and neuropathologic data from carefully and longitudinally characterized patients with mild cognitive impairment or dementia as well as non-cognitively impaired control individuals using a variety of methods that maximizes usefulness to scientists (3) teach trainees in pathology, neurology, psychology, psychiatry, and basic sciences the current methods of neuropathological classification of neurodegenerative diseases and age-related changes and mentor junior faculty in neuropathology and (4) develop innovative new approaches to maximize achievements in Aims 1 to 3.
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