# Validation of Novel Plasma Biomarkers for Mixed Etiology Dementia

> **NIH NIH K23** · UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, SAN FRANCISCO · 2022 · $201,150

## Abstract

PROJECT SUMMARY
 In this K23 career development award, Dr. Lawren VandeVrede, a behavioral neurologist and Assistant
Professor at the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF), will obtain training in the use, validation, and
translation of multimodal biomarkers for Alzheimer's Disease (AD) and related dementias (ADRD). This project
supports his long-term career goal to become a leader in ADRD biomarker translation and novel clinical trial
design, and to establish a lab that paves the way for a new generation of clinical trials that will evaluate and
refine treatment approaches for patients with dementia. Through this K23 and the enriched multidisciplinary
training environment at UCSF, Dr. VandeVrede aims to accomplish the following specific training goals: 1) gain
expertise in the use of clinical, neuropathological, biofluid, and neuroimaging biomarker modalities, 2) develop
specialized proficiency in validation of novel plasma AD biomarkers benchmarked to gold-standard
neuropathology and current-generation positron emission tomography (PET) neuroimaging, and (3) develop a
pathway for translation of biomarkers into clinical settings for use as large-scale screening and diagnostic tools
for ADRD. To achieve these goals, Dr. VandeVrede has assembled an exemplary mentorship team, including
his primary mentor, Dr. Adam Boxer, a leader in ADRD fluid biomarker discovery and clinical trial design, and
co-mentors, Drs. Lea Grinberg and Gil Rabinovici, experts in ADRD neuropathology and PET imaging
respectively. In addition, he has two collaborators with expertise in relevant plasma biomarker assays, Drs.
Michelle Mielke and Jeff Dage, and a biostatistician, Dr. John Kornak, with significant expertise in ADRD
biomarker validation and clinical trial design.
 The overarching goal of the project is to better characterize the diagnostic performance of several novel AD
plasma biomarkers in an important and clinically relevant patient population: mixed etiology dementia. The
central rationale is that blood tests are critically needed for large-scale diagnostic screening for AD, and
whereas several proposed plasma biomarkers in the research world show promise as future clinical tools, key
validation data and comparisons between biomarkers are missing in real-world dementia patients with mixed
etiology. Therefore, in this project, novel plasma biomarkers of ADRD will be validated (1) in Aim I against
gold-standard neuropathology in autopsy cohorts that include comorbid and alternative neuropathologies; (2) in
Aim II against current-generation PET biomarkers in several prospective observational studies that include
early, mixed, and atypical clinical phenotypes; and (3) in Aim III in a large community-based study specifically
designed to recruit under-represented minorities. This project provides critical data that would support
translation of these specific blood tests into clinical use, and establishes a platform for future discovery and
validation project...

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10487452
- **Project number:** 5K23AG073514-02
- **Recipient organization:** UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, SAN FRANCISCO
- **Principal Investigator:** Lawren VandeVrede
- **Activity code:** K23 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2022
- **Award amount:** $201,150
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 2021-09-10 → 2026-05-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10487452

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10487452, Validation of Novel Plasma Biomarkers for Mixed Etiology Dementia (5K23AG073514-02). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-24 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10487452. Licensed CC0.

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