Alzheimer Centers in North Carolina, Texas Join NIH Network
The National Institutes of Health grants each entity $14.8 million in funding over the course of 5 years to conduct research into the progressive disease.
The Duke/University of North Carolina Alzheimer’s Disease Research Center and the South Texas Alzheimer’s Disease Center have joined the Alzheimer disease (AD) and related dementia centers funded by the National Institute of Aging (NIA), which is part of the National Institutes of Health (NIH).
“NIA-funded Alzheimer’s Disease Research Centers (ADRC) have been at the heart of progress in Alzheimer and related dementias research in the U.S. for more than 3 decades,” Richard J. Hodes, M.D, director of the NIA, said in a statement. “Funding these 2 new research hubs underscores our ongoing commitment to finding effective preventions and treatments for a diverse range of individuals at risk for and living with these diseases.”
Each center received $14.8 million over the course of 5 years to aid in research of early- and mid-life risk factors of Alzheimer and related dementias and to understand and help these diseases in Black and Mexican-American individuals.
The Duke/University of North Carolina ADRC will focus on identifying age-related changes that affect development, experiences, and progression.
The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley ADRC and the University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio will support investigators conducting research to reduce the burden of the diseases in Hispanics and build connections with the Hispanic community.
The ADRCs focus on research that includes understanding amyloid plaque and tau tangle formation, abnormal proteins linked to neurodegenerative diseases, cognitive changes in aging with dementia and normal aging, changes to the body and brain through clinical stages of the diseases, biomarkers for early detection, the inclusion of a range of diverse individuals in clinical studies, supporting brain donation programs, sharing large sets of data of research volunteers to scientists, and discovering new targets and treatments.
With the addition of the 2 centers, the ADRC has 33 centers and 4 exploratory centers.
Reference
NIH expands Alzheimer’s and related dementias centers research network. EurekAlert. News release. September 9, 2021. Accessed September 9, 2021. https://www.eurekalert.org/news-releases/927808
