# Reimagining Precision Medicine Approaches to AD Diagnosis

> **NIH NIH R35** · UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, SAN FRANCISCO · 2021 · $979,381

## Abstract

PROJECT SUMMARY
Despite advances in biomarkers, the accuracy of the diagnosis of ADRD in everyday clinical practice remains
inadequate, particularly for health disparities populations. This research program addresses this challenge by
validating promising, widely accessible and inexpensive clinical and plasma-based biomarkers in diverse
populations in an academic setting and in real-world clinical practice. Our over-arching goal is to reimagine
approaches to the diagnosis of ADRD using scalable precision medicine tools. The proposal synergizes the
research programs of co-PIs Dr. Gil Rabinovici, a behavioral neurologist and leader in brain imaging and
biomarkers, and Dr. Kate Possin, a neuropsychologist and leader in innovation of tablet-based cognitive
assessments and dementia care models. We will recruit 400 participants from the UCSF Alzheimer’s Disease
Research Center (ADRC), which includes large, heterogeneous, deeply phenotyped clinical cohorts (ranging
from cognitively unimpaired to dementia) with a large Latino/Hispanic component; and 750 participants from
the New IDEAS study, which is evaluating the clinical utility of amyloid PET in Medicare beneficiaries with MCI
or dementia and emphasizes recruitment of Black/African American and Latino/Hispanic patients. With
Collaborator Dr. Peggye Dilworth-Anderson, novel enrollment approaches that attend to cultural nuances,
provider workflows, and meaningful incentives will help set the standard for inclusive research. All participants
will undergo a brief battery of domain-specific cognitive tests, and surveys of social determinants of health
(SDH), cognitive and functional symptoms, and caregiver factors. Blood based biomarkers of amyloid, tau and
neurodegeneration will be measured in 1,000 participants with co-investigator Dr. Sid O’Bryant. We will identify
vulnerability factors and care needs that will inform future diagnostic care models. All participants will undergo
amyloid PET, and UCSF ADRC participants will additionally undergo tau PET and MRI. We will identify the
clinical measures and blood-based biomarkers that best predict molecular pathology. We will develop
classifiers that consider patient factors, SDH, cognition, caregiver factors, and blood-based biomarkers to
predict amyloid and tau PET findings, necessity for PET imaging and health outcomes. We will mentor and
support junior and early stage-investigators throughout the project. This project will address ADRD Research
Implementation Milestone 9.L “Improving differential diagnosis of symptomatic cognitive impairment,” while
also advancing additional key Milestones related to racial/ethnic diversity and blood-based biomarkers. This
work will ready the field for inclusive identification of appropriate candidates for disease modifying therapies.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10211331
- **Project number:** 1R35AG072362-01
- **Recipient organization:** UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, SAN FRANCISCO
- **Principal Investigator:** Katherine Laurel Possin
- **Activity code:** R35 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2021
- **Award amount:** $979,381
- **Award type:** 1
- **Project period:** 2021-04-15 → 2026-03-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10211331

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10211331, Reimagining Precision Medicine Approaches to AD Diagnosis (1R35AG072362-01). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-22 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10211331. Licensed CC0.

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