Mentoring Imaging Research in Early AD

描述（由申请人提供）：这是一份关于衰老和阿尔茨海默病（AD）患者导向研究的K24中年研究者奖的修订申请。候选人Reisa A. Sperling，医学博士。他是哈佛医学院神经病学副教授，早期作为一名多产的临床研究者和研究导师有着良好的记录。该研究项目的主要目标是：1)阐明衰老和早期阿尔茨海默病记忆障碍的神经基础；2)将阿尔茨海默病的病理生理过程与早期临床表现联系起来；3)开发敏感的成像标记物，在临床前阶段跟踪阿尔茨海默病的进展，从而使疾病改善治疗的早期干预成为可能。候选人有几个正在进行的NIH和基金会资助的MCI和早期AD的多模态成像研究项目，以及一个正在进行的关于衰老和淀粉样蛋白的项目，该项目最近得到了非常有利的审查。申请人将利用其资助的研究作为指导新的以患者为导向的研究人员的平台，并促进认知衰老和早期AD研究的多学科研究方法。申请人的学员将有机会在功能、结构和分子成像技术、认知神经科学、早期痴呆的神经心理学评估、生物统计学和纵向研究设计的流行病学方面进行培训，因为他们适用于衰老和阿尔茨海默病患者的研究，从一个杰出的合作者群体中汲取专业知识。学员还将能够参加由T32和其他培训补助金提供的研究研讨会、统计培训和成像讲习班、作为哈佛大学新资助的CTSA的一部分的职业发展和赠款写作讲习班，以及布里格姆妇女医院、麻省总医院、麻省理工学院和哈佛大学公共卫生学院的教学课程。候选人本人将获得与她正在进行的研究相关的高级统计和流行病学方法的额外专业知识，并将她的研究扩展到静息功能连接技术，作为K24奖新研究的一部分。K24将有助于推进候选人在早期阿尔茨海默病神经影像学方面的研究事业，并保护她的时间来指导致力于阿尔茨海默病患者导向研究的新一代研究人员。

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): This is a revised application for a K24 Midcareer Investigator Award in aging and Alzheimer's disease (AD) patient-oriented research. The candidate, Reisa A. Sperling, M.D. M.MSc., is an Associate Professor of Neurology at Harvard Medical School with a strong early track record as a productive clinical investigator and research mentor. The overarching aims of the candidate's research program are to: 1) elucidate the neural underpinnings of memory impairment in aging and early AD, 2) link the pathophysiological process of AD to the early clinical manifestations, and 3) develop sensitive imaging markers to track the progression of AD in the preclinical stages, enabling earlier intervention with disease-modifying treatments. The candidate has several ongoing NIH and foundation-funded multimodality imaging research projects in MCI and early AD, as well as a pending Program Project on aging and amyloid, which was recently very favorably reviewed. The applicant will use her funded research as a platform for the mentorship of new patient-oriented investigators and to promote a multidisciplinary research approach to the study of cognitive aging and early AD. The applicant's mentees will have the opportunity to train in functional, structural, and molecular imaging techniques, cognitive neuroscience, neuropsychological assessment of early dementia, biostatistics, and epidemiological aspects of longitudinal study design as they apply to aging and AD patient research, drawing expertise from an outstanding group of collaborators. Trainees will also be able to participate in research seminars, statistical training and imaging workshops provided by T32 and other training grants, career development and grant- writing workshops as part of the newly funded CTSA at Harvard, and didactic course work at Brigham and Women's Hospital, Massachusetts General Hospital, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and the Harvard School of Public Health. The candidate herself will acquire additional expertise in advanced statistical and epidemiological methodology related to her ongoing research, and will expand her research into resting functional connectivity techniques as part of new research proposed for the K24 award. The K24 will be instrumental in advancing the candidate's research career in neuroimaging of early AD, and in protecting her time to mentor a new generation of investigators committed to AD patient-oriented research.