University of Florida - Mt. Sinai Medical Center AD Research Center

描述(由申请人提供)：为阿尔茨海默病(AD)寻找有效的治疗和预防性治疗是该国最严重的未得到满足的医疗需求之一。佛罗里达州有大约50万AD患者和300万65岁以上的高危人群，是美国AD流行的中心；然而，该州没有活跃的ADRC或ADCC。为了进一步加深我们对AD和相关痴呆的集体理解，佛罗里达大学(UF)-西奈山医学中心(MSMC)AD研究中心(ADRC)将在迈阿密MSMC的维恩记忆障碍中心和盖恩斯维尔的UF联合开展研究工作。这些努力将利用维恩中心以西班牙裔为主的临床人群、密歇根大学广泛的研究能力以及由国立卫生研究院资助的密歇根大学临床和翻译科学研究所提供的翻译研究基础设施。UF-MSMC ADRC的主要目标是：i)进一步阐明早期认知障碍与大脑结构和功能的各种生物标志物的相关性；ii)了解西班牙裔和非西班牙裔个体下降的预测因素；iii)支持有助于进一步了解疾病机制的翻译研究工作；iv)为改进设计以测试治疗AD和相关痴呆的新疗法奠定基础；v)在全州范围内产生广泛的教育影响，包括招募初级研究人员进入AD领域。除了所需的五个核心外，还提出了三个项目。项目I探索了一种假设，即基于MRI的游离水测量可以提供重要的AD诊断信息。项目二评估了新的认知范式，这些范式将对西班牙裔和非西班牙裔人群中阿尔茨海默病的早期表现更加敏感。项目III将开发AD混合病理的新模型，并评估旨在改变这些混合病理的免疫治疗方法。在认识到佛罗里达州设立ADRC的必要性后，ADRC得到了多机构的大力支持，更重要的是，佛罗里达州的立法资金也得到了补充。

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): Finding effective treatments and preventative therapies for Alzheimer's disease (AD) is one of the country's most serious unmet medical needs. With ~500,000 AD patients and >3 million at-risk individuals over age 65, Florida is an epicenter of the AD epidemic in the United States; yet, there are no active ADRCs or ADCCs primarily based in the State. In order to further our collective understanding of AD and related dementias, the University of Florida (UF)-Mount Sinai Medical Center (MSMC) AD Research Center (ADRC) will coalesce research efforts within the Wien Memory Disorder Center at MSMC in Miami and the UF in Gainesville. These efforts will capitalize on the clinical population in the Wien Center that is majority Hispanic, the expansive research capabilities at UF, and the infrastructure for translational research provided by the NIH funded UF Clinical and Translational Science Institute. Major goals of the UF-MSMC ADRC are to; i) further elucidate the correlation of early cognitive impairment to various biomarkers of brain structure and function; ii) understand predictors of decline in Hispanic and Non-Hispanic individuals; iii) support translational research efforts that will further the understanding of disease mechanisms; iv) lay the groundwork for improved designs for testing novel therapies for AD and related dementias, and; v) have a broad state-wide educational impact including recruitment of junior investigators into the AD field. In addition to the five required Cores, three Projects are proposed. Project I explores the hypothesis that MRI-based measures of free water can provide important theragnostic information in AD. Project II evaluates new cognitive paradigms that will be more sensitive to the earliest manifestations of AD in Hispanic and non-Hispanic populations. Project III will develop new models of mixed AD pathologies and evaluate immunotherapeutic approaches aimed at modifying these mixed pathologies. Having recognized the need for ADRCs in Florida, there is substantial multi-institutional support for this ADRC and, importantly, supplemental State of Florida legislative funding.