# NVEDARC Clinical Core

> **NIH NIH P20** · CLEVELAND CLINIC FOUNDATION · 2021 · $599,490

## Abstract

NVEADRC CLINICAL CORE (CC)
 SUMMARY / ABSTRACT
Advancing clinical research, particularly for conditions like Alzheimer’s disease (AD) and Alzheimer’s disease
related dementia (ADRD), benefits from the participation of a demographically and economically diverse pool of
study participants. Despite representing 19% of the United States population, individuals from rural communities
are vastly underrepresented in AD/ADRD research. In addition, individuals from rural communities face difficulties
in access to dementia healthcare. The effects of demographic and geographic inequities between rural and urban
populations on the incidence, biology, and trajectory of AD/ADRD in rural populations have not been clarified. Thus,
a longitudinal study of a well-characterized cohort of rural individuals with AD/ADRD would greatly help in
addressing these inequities and clarify the impact of AD/ADRD in diverse populations. In the State of Nevada,
9.5% (~280,000) of the population reside in rural areas. Access to healthcare for these rural communities is difficult,
with some Counties having no licensed medical professionals at all. Patients with specialty needs, such as those
with AD/ADRD, have increased difficulty since expert neurologists are located only in metropolitan areas. These
difficulties have motivated the Cleveland Clinic Lou Ruvo Center for Brain Health (LRCBH) and University of
Nevada, Las Vegas (UNLV) to create the Nevada Exploratory Alzheimer’s Disease Research Center (NVEADRC).
The overall goal of the NVEADRC is to strengthen simultaneously the dementia education in rural medical
professionals, and to develop a research cohort of rural patients with AD/ADRD with the collaboration or rural
medical professionals. The Clinical Core (CC) is responsible to execute two specific aims. In Aim 1, the CC will
build a rural research cohort on which it will carry out longitudinal assessments. We will start our rural community
activities in three rural communities in Nevada, which already have strong collaborations with the LRCBH. By
establishing regularly scheduled dementia assessment locations, educating and training local health care providers
in dementia care, and conducting population-based dementia advocacy, we will develop the infrastructure and trust
needed for meaningful AD research in rural communities. We will establish a cohort of 100 research participants
balanced between two psychometrically-defined groups, mild cognitive impairment (MCI; n=20) and dementia (AD;
n=40), as well as an age-matched cognitively normal control group (NC; n=40). Enrolled participants will be
followed with annual clinical and neuropsychological assessments, neuroimaging, and fluid biomarkers. Enrolled
individuals will be encouraged to consent for brain donation. All data will be shared with the scientific community.
In Aim 2, LRCBH and UNLV investigators will analyze our rural cohort data and specimens, and compare the
outcomes with the National Alzheimer's Coordinating C...

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10220843
- **Project number:** 5P20AG068053-02
- **Recipient organization:** CLEVELAND CLINIC FOUNDATION
- **Principal Investigator:** AARON RITTER
- **Activity code:** P20 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2021
- **Award amount:** $599,490
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 2020-08-01 → 2023-07-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10220843

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10220843, NVEDARC Clinical Core (5P20AG068053-02). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-25 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10220843. Licensed CC0.

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