# Adult Changes in Thought (ACT) Research Program Core B: Clinical Core

> **NIH NIH U19** · KAISER FOUNDATION RESEARCH INSTITUTE · 2022 · $3,103,319

## Abstract

The overarching goal of the Clinical Core (Core B) is to collect data in support of the Adult Changes in Thought
(ACT) U19 Program Projects, Cores, and other studies using ACT data. The Clinical Core is responsible for
participant communication and clinic and home visit data collection from ACT study participants, and
coordinates with other Projects and Cores that include other data collection activities. One scientific challenge
the Clinical Core must address is maintaining backwards compatibility while facilitating data collection using
newer, modern methods and maintaining harmonization with companion studies. These considerations inform
all aspects of the Clinical Core’s activities. The Clinical Core’s Specific Aims are: (1) Follow and retain current
ACT participants. Refinements in the U19 Program include digital capture of extensive information on cognition
beyond that previously collected using traditional approaches. The Clinical Core will continue data collection
from home-based visits, an essential design characteristic for cohort retention. The Clinical Core will: (1a)
expand, modernize, and improve established ACT data collection to follow cognition, physical function and
function in daily life, interval changes in risk factors, health and social status and continue to identify incident
cases of dementia and Alzheimer’s disease; and (1b) support proposed Projects and Cores and ACT related
affiliated studies with targeted new data collection adding new processes to digitize and modernize cognitive
tests. (2) Enroll, follow, and retain new ACT participants. The Clinical Core plans to increase enrollment to
grow from 2,000 to 3,000 active dementia-free individuals. We will increase our geographic reach to include
more sociodemographically and racially/ethnically diverse areas in the greater Puget Sound area and will
oversample racial/ethnic minorities to achieve a goal of over 20% racial/ethnic minority enrollment. (3) Acquire
and maintain antemortem autopsy approval and enhance communication with participants and their families to
optimize postmortem intervals (PMI) for decedents who come to autopsy. The ACT study’s extensive
infrastructure has led to >850 autopsies to date from the ACT cohort. The Clinical Core will work closely with
the Neuropathology Core to use continuous quality improvement (CQI) approaches to maximize the proportion
of consenting decedents who receive a rapid autopsy. (4) Coordinate with the Administrative and Data and
Analysis Cores to ensure state-of-the-art quality control and data documentation of all data collected by the
Clinical Core. The ACT Clinical Core builds on a quarter century of data collection from a population-based
cohort of older adults and will expand, modernize and improve ACT data collection, provide outstanding
support of Projects, Cores, and affiliated studies and those receiving ACT data through extensive data sharing
infrastructure and have a larger and more sociodemographic and racially/...

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10404972
- **Project number:** 5U19AG066567-02
- **Recipient organization:** KAISER FOUNDATION RESEARCH INSTITUTE
- **Principal Investigator:** Paul K Crane
- **Activity code:** U19 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2022
- **Award amount:** $3,103,319
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 2021-05-15 → 2026-04-30

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10404972

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10404972, Adult Changes in Thought (ACT) Research Program Core B: Clinical Core (5U19AG066567-02). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-25 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10404972. Licensed CC0.

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