CLINICAL CORE

随着我们对阿尔茨海默病（AD）和其他神经退行性疾病发病机制认识的成熟，迫切需要将基础神经生物学进展与基于患者的研究联系起来。为了利用过去二十年来的科学进步，基础、转化和临床研究人员必须协调我们的努力，以最大限度地加快机会

With the maturation of our understanding of disease mechanisms in Alzheimer's disease (AD) and other neurodegenerative disorders, there is an urgent need to relate basic neurobiological advances to patientbased research. To capitalize on scientific advances during the past two decades, the community of basic, translational, and clinical investigators must coordinate our efforts to maximize opportunities to accelerate improvements in clinical care. The Emory ADRC maintains an intense focus on integrative research efforts, and the Clinical Core serves the vital functions of providing clinical infrastructure and facilitating access to research participants to support research on AD and related neurodegenerative disorders. Key themes for the Clinical Core in this competing renewal are to continue to support and strengthen our center's focus on integrative science and expand the participation of African-American elders in these activities. During our initial funding period, the Emory ADRC Clinical Core has worked closely with other elements of our center to establish a strong foundation and demonstrable effectiveness in supporting productive basic and clinical research studies. The Specific Aims forthe current proposal are 1) to recruit participants for ADRC Research Projects and support translational neurodegenerative disease research at Emory, 2) to maintain a cohort of research participants and contribute top-quality clinical data and biological samples to national coordinating centers, and 3) to maximize participation of African-American elders in ADRCsponsored research and related projects. Through these Aims, we will continue building our capacity to support cutting edge research with a specific emphasis on developing methods to identify and recruit individuals at early stages of cognitive decline to participate in basic research and clinical research on early detection and disease-modifying therapies. We will also continue to explore unique opportunities to ameliorate the existing racial disparities in biomedical research through a unique partnership between the Emory ADRC and leaders in the Atlanta African American community. The themes and goals that are proposed for the Clinical Core are consistent with the overall focus of the Emory ADRC, and it will serve as a powerful proponent for basic and clinical research efforts to advance our abilities to diagnose and treat patients suffering from AD and other neurodegenerative dementing diseases.