Vanderbilt Alzheimer's Disease Research Center - VANDERBILT ALZHEIMER’S DISEASE RESEARCH CENTER – OVERALL PROJECT SUMMARY We aim to establish the Vanderbilt Alzheimer’s Disease Research Center (VADRC) as a world-class interdisciplinary center in Nashville, Tennessee. With high regional burden of Alzheimer’s disease (AD) and related dementias (ADRD) as well as vascular risk factors, there is a pressing need to understand the complexities underlying the intersection between vascular risk and ADRD. Vascular risk factors, the majority of which are modifiable, are linked to ADRD risk and highly prevalent in our region, especially within the Black and African American community. The VADRC’s mission is to characterize how vascular burden intersects with ADRD pathogenesis, manifestation, prevention, and treatment at the cellular, systems biological, and population levels. This effort will capitalize on the scientific strengths of our campus-wide investigators, expansive and collaborative institutional resources, and foundational work completed over the last several years. The Administrative Core will serve as the hub for all local ADRD research activities and coordinate and integrate all Center interactions and collaborations. The Outreach, Recruitment, and Engagement Core will build upon existing community partnerships to bring awareness of ADRD and relevant vascular risk factors to the community. The Outreach, Recruitment, and Engagement Core team will recruit participants with a vascular risk profile reflective of our local community into our Clinical Core alongside a specific focus on outreach in the Black and African American community. The Clinical Core will enroll, deeply phenotype, and annually follow 400 participants, capturing clinical, neuropsychological, cardiac imaging, neuroimaging, and biofluid data in collaboration with the Biomarker Core. The Neuropathology Core will obtain post-mortem brains and biofluids from participants, allowing for complete post-mortem characterization of ADRD and vascular pathologies. Our Data Management and Statistical Core will ensure all data collected is properly stored in an integrated informatics infrastructure, is shared with national repositories, and is readily accessible to other investigators via our web-based data sharing platform. Finally, the VADRC will foster professional development for the next generation of ADRD clinicians, scientists, and leaders, with a particular focus on supporting early career faculty scholars through the Research Education Component. The VADRC is exceptionally well positioned to become the first center of its kind in Tennessee and serve a growing population suffering from ADRD.
