# Core B: Clinical Core

> **NIH NIH P30** · BOSTON UNIVERSITY MEDICAL CAMPUS · 2022 · $911,150

## Abstract

The Boston University Alzheimer’s Disease Research Center Clinical Core (BU ADRC CC) facilitates and
conducts cutting-edge research on AD and AD related dementias (ADRDs), including chronic traumatic
encephalopathy (CTE). CC participants, and biospecimens and data generated from their participation, support
local efforts, cross-ADRC collaborations and national research initiatives. CC investigators are engaged in
AD/ADRD research towards several National Alzheimer’s Project Act (NAPA) goals, including population studies,
precision medicine, health disparities, biomarkers, diagnosis, mechanisms, and translational and clinical
research. The Center is closely integrated and synergistic with the Framingham Heart Study at BU. Research
by CC investigators has led to fundamental insights into the role of repetitive head impacts (RHI) from contact
sport participation, military service and physical violence in the pathogenesis of AD/ADRD, including CTE.
However, CTE cannot be diagnosed during life due to an ill-defined clinical presentation and lack of validated
biomarkers. Research has been limited by cross-sectional studies of small samples of male former elite American
football players and reliance on retrospective informant reports. To address these knowledge gaps, we expanded
our CC in 2018 to integrate participants with exposure to RHI (men and women, across different types of sports
and levels of play). This integration is highly aligned with the Center-wide theme to study the late effects of RHI
and compare AD, CTE and other ADRDs, vis-à-vis clinical presentation, biomarker profile, genetic and other
risks factors, and clinical-pathological correlations. In Aim 1, we will sustain, augment, and characterize the
clinical phenotypes and trajectories of an established CC Cohort (CCC). The CCC is comprised of 400
participants, that are >50 years, demographically diverse, representative of Greater Boston and that span the
cognitive spectrum. We will collaborate with the Outreach, Recruitment and Engagement Core to continue
recruitment of traditional CC participants and expand the number with RHI exposure. We will characterize the
neurological, neuropsychological, neuropsychiatric and diagnostic profiles using traditional and novel
phenotyping approaches, including digital phenotyping. We will obtain brain donation consent of CC participants
and work with the Neuropathology Core to facilitate brain donation. In Aim 2, we will obtain brain imaging,
biospecimens and novel biomarkers from the CCC and work with the Data Management & Statistics, Biomarker,
and Genomics and Molecular Profiling Cores to integrate biomarker collection, analysis, banking, and
distribution. In Aim 3, we will share data and provide a source of well-characterized participants for local and
national research studies on AD and ADRD, including CTE. In Aim 4, we will educate trainees to develop the
next generation of AD/ADRD clinical investigators. In conclusion, the CC plays a central ...

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10468307
- **Project number:** 5P30AG072978-02
- **Recipient organization:** BOSTON UNIVERSITY MEDICAL CAMPUS
- **Principal Investigator:** Jesse Benjamin Mez
- **Activity code:** P30 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2022
- **Award amount:** $911,150
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 2021-08-15 → 2026-06-30

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10468307

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10468307, Core B: Clinical Core (5P30AG072978-02). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-24 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10468307. Licensed CC0.

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