Imaging Biomarker Core

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PROJECT SUMMARY - IMAGING BIOMARKER CORE The Northwestern ADRC Imaging Biomarker Core has the long-term goal to characterize all eligible Clinical Core participants with state-of-the-art structural, functional, and molecular imaging and curate these data for use in future projects. The Northwestern ADRC Clinical Core currently maintains a cohort of over 500 participants. Approximately half of the Clinical Core Participants receive systematic MR imaging funded by R01s from NIA, NINDS, and NIDCD. During the last cycle, the Imaging Biomarker Core increased imaging coverage from approximately 50% of the Clinical Core cohort to nearly 70%. For the next cycle, it will acquire and process structural, functional, and molecular imaging on additional Clinical Core participants who are not covered by other research grants and who are targeted for relevant collaborative studies. We will use advanced acquisition and analysis methods and ensure these data are integrated with other variables within an infrastructure that supports intramural and extramural collaborations and provides rich opportunities for training. The Imaging Biomarker Core is highly interconnected with the other Northwestern ADRC Cores in a manner that enhances the missions of NAPA and the NIA. It will be guided by the following goals: 1) Acquire systematic and multimodal neuroimaging (MR, PET) on Clinical Core participants who lack these biomarkers and who are eligible/recruited for collaborative studies we support. To this end, Clinical Core participants including cognitively healthy controls, individuals with amnestic mild cognitive impairment (aMCI), and individuals with AD/ADRD will be scanned with advanced PET and MR imaging modalities. 2) Curate and share integrated imaging datasets on Clinical Core participants, which will serve intramural and extramural collaborations including REC trainee projects. This aim will draw upon a mature institutional computing structure to run pipelines for quality assurance, processing, and analysis of imaging data. The resulting imaging outputs will be incorporated with clinical and post-mortem data in our unified ADRC NeuroFiles database developed in collaboration with the Data Management and Statistics Core. The infrastructure of the Imaging Biomarker Core includes two research-dedicated 3T Siemens MR magnets at Northwestern’s Center for Translational Imaging (CTI) and a PET/CT scanner at Northwestern Memorial Hospital. Data are directly routed from the scan console to the Northwestern University Neuroimaging Data Archive (NUNDA), where quality assurance and analysis tools are launched with the support of a high- performance computing cluster called QUEST. Collectively, these data will enhance the clinical and diagnostic characterization of each Clinical Core participant and will be made available to approved intramural and national collaborators including NACC. All phases of this proposal will offer unique opportunities for the training of junior investigators in areas related to imaging and translational research.