# Clinical Core (Core B)

> **NIH NIH P01** · MASSACHUSETTS GENERAL HOSPITAL · 2022 · $467,880

## Abstract

SUMMARY: CORE B- CLINICAL CORE. The Clinical Core will support the Harvard Aging Brain Study (HABS)
Program Project Grant (PPG) by retaining a diverse sample of older individuals (Aim 1), carefully evaluating
them with annual neuropsychological and clinical assessments, and scheduling all procedures (Aim 2),
obtaining biological fluid samples (Aim 3), facilitating brain donations (Aim 4) and providing clinical and
neuropsychological expertise to all Projects (Aim 5). Individuals recruited during the first grant cycle (Wave 1:
2010-2015; n=285) now have 7-9 years of longitudinal follow-up. Individuals recruited during the second grant
cycle (Wave 2: 2015-current; n=88) allowed us to replenish the cohort, expand the age range down to 50 and
add a new Latino/a group. We have maintained an average attrition rate of 5.8±4.6% per year over nine years.
Our Active Cohort now includes 290 individuals (mean age 70.6±9.4 years, current age range 51-94). The
representation of minorities in the sample is now 22%, exceeding the proportion of older minority populations in
the greater Boston area. Although participants were all clinically normal when they joined HABS, 13.2% of
participants have progressed to a CDR of 0.5, with 10.3% reaching a clinical consensus diagnosis of MCI or
mild dementia, and we anticipate that an increasingly proportion of the cohort individuals will decline over the
next 5 years. Retention and careful evaluation of the HABS cohort is essential to achieve the scientific goals of
our study. In addition to performing annual assessments of cognition, mood, social engagement, quality of life,
activities of daily living and subjective cognitive concerns and scheduling imaging procedures with the Imaging
Core, the Clinical Core will work with Project 2 to monitor physical activity, facilitate recruitment into the
Advanced Imaging Cohort for Project 3 and assist Project 4 with training on mobile computerized assessments
that will be administered in the home environment. The Clinical Core will collect biological fluid samples for
biomarker and genetic studies in coordination with the Biomarker Core and facilitate discussion of brain
donation and coordination of successful autopsy completion with the Massachusetts Alzheimer’s Disease
Research Center’s Neuropathology Core for Project 1. Finally, the Clinical Core will ensure reliable data
collection, quality control of all clinical data, and will input and transfer data to DataCentral in coordination with
the Analytic Core. The Clinical Core is comprised of a seasoned group of multidisciplinary clinical investigators
with specialized training in neurology, neuropsychology and neuropsychiatry, along with a dedicated staff of
research assistants. The Clinical Core will facilitate the careful longitudinal characterization of HABS
participants, including determination/adjudication of MCI or dementia diagnosis made by consensus with our
multidisciplinary clinical investigators who are blind to biomark...

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10144902
- **Project number:** 5P01AG036694-12
- **Recipient organization:** MASSACHUSETTS GENERAL HOSPITAL
- **Principal Investigator:** Dorene May Rentz
- **Activity code:** P01 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2022
- **Award amount:** $467,880
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 2010-07-15 → 2025-12-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10144902

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10144902, Clinical Core (Core B) (5P01AG036694-12). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-23 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10144902. Licensed CC0.

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