Thursday, January 15, 2026 1/15/2026

Imaging Cerebral and Retinal Microvasculature in Cerebral Small Vessel Disease

Award Number: UH3NS100614
ORGANIZATION: NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF NEUROLOGICAL DISORDERS AND STROKE
OPDIV: NIH
AWARD CLASS: COOPERATIVE AGREEMENT
AWARD ACTIVITY TYPE: SCIENTIFIC/HEALTH RESEARCH (INCLUDES SURVEYS)
PERIOD OF PERFORMANCE START DATE: 09/30/2016
PERIOD OF PERFORMANCE END DATE: 07/31/2021

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Imaging Cerebral and Retinal Microvasculature in Cerebral Small Vessel Disease - Project Summary (Parent Award) While Alzheimer's disease (AD) is the most common cause of dementia, the contribution of vascular factors to cognitive impairment and dementia is becoming increasingly recognized. Vascular cognitive impairment and dementia (VCID) is most commonly caused by cerebral small vessel disease (SVD). To date, cerebral small vessels including arterioles, capillaries and venules are inaccessible to existing imaging technologies. Characteristic parenchymal lesions on MRI, such as lacunar infarcts, white matter lesions, and microbleeds, have been adopted as markers of SVD. However, these parenchymal lesions are the consequences of SVD rather than the surrogate markers of microvascular changes, and are unsuitable for early interventions to change the course of VCID. During the past few years, our group has spearheaded the development of a suite of cutting edge MRI technologies for in vivo and noninvasive assessment of microvascular structure and function, including (1) high-resolution black blood MRI for direct imaging of perforating arteries; (2) arterial spin labeling (ASL) techniques for mapping microvascular perfusion, arterial stiffness or vascular compliance (VC) of small arteries/arterioles, and water exchange rate across the blood-brain barrier (BBB). Furthermore, we recently developed quantitative metrics for retinal capillary density and morphology using an FDA approved optical coherence tomography angiography (OCTA) platform. This method allows clinically feasible, in vivo and completely noninvasive imaging of retinal arterioles and capillaries with a spatial resolution of ~10 microns. Capitalizing on our extensive technical expertise and longstanding track record of clinical studies on VCID, we propose this UH2/UH3 project to further develop and evaluate a suite of MRI and OCTA markers for assessing the structure and function of cerebral and retinal microvasculature, in a cohort of Latino subjects enrolled in the Los Angeles Latino Eye Study (LALES) and in the study of autosomal dominant AD in persons of Mexican origin (Estudio de Enfermedad de Alzheimer en Jalisciences, or EEAJ). During the UH2 phase, we will further develop and evaluate the proposed MRI and OCTA imaging markers of SVD, establish their test-retest repeatability and clinical utility. We will work with the other participating sites and with the Coordinating Center to establish collaborative parameters and agreements of the consortium. During the UH3 phase, we will contribute to and execute cross-site research studies as designed by the consortium. We will perform unified and comprehensive clinical, cognitive, imaging, genetic and biochemical assessments on the cohort of LALES and EEAJ participants locally and perform data analyses as required by the consortium. At the closing of this project, we expect to develop the suite of microvascular imaging markers to readiness to enter into large-scale multi-site clinical validation studies toward FDA qualification for phase II and phase III clinical trials on small vessel disease to prevent and treat VCID.


Issue Date FY	Funding FY	Legal Entity Name	Legal Entity Address	Legal Entity City	Legal Entity State	Legal Entity Zip Code	Legal Entity COUNTY	Legal Entity COUNTRY	Assistance Listing	Award Code	Budget Year	Action Date	Action Type	Action Amount

Issue Date FY: 2026 ( Subtotal = $0 )
2026	2020	UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA	3720 S FLOWER ST FL 3	LOS ANGELES	CA	90033	LOS ANGELES	USA	Extramural Research Programs in the Neurosciences and Neurological Disorders	000	4	10/1/2025	SUPPLEMENT FOR EXPANSION	$0
														Subtotal = $0

Issue Date FY: 2023 ( Subtotal = -$154,689 )
2023	2020	UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA	3720 S FLOWER ST	LOS ANGELES	CA	90089	LOS ANGELES	USA	Extramural Research Programs in the Neurosciences and Neurological Disorders	001	4	2/16/2023	SUPPLEMENT FOR EXPANSION	-$64,278
2023	2020	UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA	3720 S FLOWER ST	LOS ANGELES	CA	90089	LOS ANGELES	USA	Extramural Research Programs in the Neurosciences and Neurological Disorders	000	5	2/16/2023	NON-COMPETING CONTINUATION	-$90,411
														Subtotal = -$154,689

Issue Date FY: 2022 ( Subtotal = -$1,108,680 )
2022	2020	UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA	3720 S FLOWER ST	LOS ANGELES	CA	90089	LOS ANGELES	USA	Extramural Research Programs in the Neurosciences and Neurological Disorders	000	5	4/18/2022	NON-COMPETING CONTINUATION	-$1,108,680
														Subtotal = -$1,108,680

Issue Date FY: 2021 ( Subtotal = $0 )
2021	2020	UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA	3720 S FLOWER ST FL 3	LOS ANGELES	CA	90007	LOS ANGELES	USA	Extramural Research Programs in the Neurosciences and Neurological Disorders	000	5	7/12/2021	NON-COMPETING CONTINUATION	$0
2021	2020	UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA	3720 S FLOWER ST FL 3	LOS ANGELES	CA	90007	LOS ANGELES	USA	Extramural Research Programs in the Neurosciences and Neurological Disorders	001	5	9/28/2021	NON-COMPETING CONTINUATION	$0
														Subtotal = $0

Issue Date FY: 2020 ( Subtotal = $1,830,566 )
2020	2020	UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA	3720 S FLOWER ST FL 3	LOS ANGELES	CA	90007	LOS ANGELES	USA	Extramural Research Programs in the Neurosciences and Neurological Disorders	003	5	8/25/2020	NON-COMPETING CONTINUATION	$1,530,150
2020	2020	UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA	3720 S FLOWER ST FL 3	LOS ANGELES	CA	90007	LOS ANGELES	USA	Extramural Research Programs in the Neurosciences and Neurological Disorders	002	4	8/20/2020	SUPPLEMENT FOR EXPANSION	$0
2020	2020	UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA	3720 S FLOWER ST FL 3	LOS ANGELES	CA	90007	LOS ANGELES	USA	Extramural Research Programs in the Neurosciences and Neurological Disorders	001	4	2/24/2020	SUPPLEMENT FOR EXPANSION	$299,643
2020	2018	UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA	3720 S FLOWER ST FL 3	LOS ANGELES	CA	90007	LOS ANGELES	USA	Extramural Research Programs in the Neurosciences and Neurological Disorders	000	3	11/18/2019	EXTENSION WITH OR WITHOUT FUNDS	$773
														Subtotal = $1,830,566

Issue Date FY: 2019 ( Subtotal = $1,498,653 )
2019	2019	UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA	3720 S FLOWER ST FL 3	LOS ANGELES	CA	90007	LOS ANGELES	USA	Extramural Research Programs in the Neurosciences and Neurological Disorders	002	4	8/13/2019	NON-COMPETING CONTINUATION	$1,230,507
2019	2018	UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA	3720 S FLOWER ST FL 3	LOS ANGELES	CA	90007	LOS ANGELES	USA	Extramural Research Programs in the Neurosciences and Neurological Disorders	001	3	4/9/2019	EXTENSION WITH OR WITHOUT FUNDS	$0
2019	2018	UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA	3720 S FLOWER ST FL 3	LOS ANGELES	CA	90007	LOS ANGELES	USA	Extramural Research Programs in the Neurosciences and Neurological Disorders	000	3	1/10/2019	EXTENSION WITH OR WITHOUT FUNDS	$268,146
														Subtotal = $1,498,653

Issue Date FY: 2018 ( Subtotal = $1,230,506 )
2018	2018	UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA	3720 S FLOWER ST FL 3	LOS ANGELES	CA	90007	LOS ANGELES	USA	Extramural Research Programs in the Neurosciences and Neurological Disorders	000	3	8/21/2018	EXTENSION WITH OR WITHOUT FUNDS	$1,230,506
														Subtotal = $1,230,506

Grand Total All Awards = $3,296,356

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Imaging Cerebral and Retinal Microvasculature in Cerebral Small Vessel Disease

Award Number: UH3NS100614

ORGANIZATION: NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF NEUROLOGICAL DISORDERS AND STROKE

OPDIV: NIH

AWARD CLASS: COOPERATIVE AGREEMENT

AWARD ACTIVITY TYPE: SCIENTIFIC/HEALTH RESEARCH (INCLUDES SURVEYS)

PERIOD OF PERFORMANCE START DATE: 09/30/2016

PERIOD OF PERFORMANCE END DATE: 07/31/2021

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