The objective of this Recruitment and Assessment (R&A) Shared Resource for the CCNMD is to support all of the Center's projects. There are five main aims of R&A: 1) to continue to implement a well functioning screening, recruitment, and assessment process for CCNMD projects; 2) to recruit a minimum of 50 elderly patients meeting entry criteria for CCNMD projects; 3) to recruit and screen the normal, age-matched and young volunteers required for CCNMD projects; 4) to maintain a quality control system to monitor the work of the R&A staff for reliability; 5) to conduct standardized MRI studies for patients assessment, and 6) to create an autopsy component to obtain material for project 2. The R&A Shared Resource will meet these goals chiefly through highly trained key personnel and research staff. There will 0.75 FTE research psychiatrists, a 0.20 FTE neuropsychologist, 1.5 FTE research assistants, and a full-time neuropsychological technician. There will also be an autopsy component for which we have budgeted a half-time Autopsy Coordinator, 0.1 FTE Pathology Fellow, and 0.1 FTE Histology Technician. The staff will be supported by the Center's sophisticated data gathering and management system, which includes a computerized, real-time data entry format, scannable self-rating forms, and electronic submission of data to the Data Management Shared Resource. Subjects will receive a thorough psychiatric assessment, medical assessment, a detailed review of cardiovascular and cerebrovascular risk factors, standardized neurological examination, and a standardized cognitive assessment including a comprehensive neuropsychological test battery. Patients will be recruited through a variety of sources, including the inpatient service at Duke and a state hospital, Duke affiliated clinics, the Duke ECT services, clinical trials, and an NIMH-sponsored naturalistic longitudinal study of depression. Elderly controls will be obtained through an Aging Center Registry of elderly volunteers. The R&A staff will work to ensure that all subjects completed CCNMD protocols, R&A staff will find appropriate follow-up for depressed subjects, either through referral or enrollment in other research studies.
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