EAGER: Optical and System Engineering Interrogation of Vascular Amyloid in Alzheimer's Disease

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Alzheimer's disease is a devastating condition which has no cure and only some treatments for symptoms are available that do not stop the progression of the disease. This disease is the 6th leading cause of death in the United States and the only one among the top 10 that cannot be prevented, cured or even slowed. The objective of this project is the development of the essential technologies to study the effect of Alzheimer's on the vascular network of the brain.A main cause of Alzheimer's disease is the accumulation of a protein, called amyloid-beta in the brain tissue. Deposits of this substance form skeletal structures around the blood vessels which prevent the vessels from dilating and delivering enough oxygen and energy to active cells. This condition damages the nerve cells and contributes to the initiation or progression of the disease. The team will design and develop imaging technologies which allow the study of this specific effect in unprecedented details. They will use the collected data to develop computer algorithms to predict the state and progression of the disease based on the acquired images.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.