# Peripheral and Central Biomarkers of Alzheimer's Disease in Diverse Cohorts

> **NIH NIH U19** · MAYO CLINIC  JACKSONVILLE · 2023 · $580,354

## Abstract

SUMMARY
Despite a higher prevalence of Alzheimer’s disease (AD) among African Americans (AA) and Latino Americans
(LA) compared to non-Hispanic whites (NHW), these populations remain underrepresented in AD biomedical
research, particularly in biomarker studies and clinical trials. The overarching goal of Project 3 of this U19 is to
leverage existing “trial-ready” AA and LA cohorts with longitudinal blood collections, clinical, neuroimaging and
cognitive data in order to identify centrally-linked peripheral molecular signatures (CLPMS) that may serve as
novel blood biomarkers that will improve diagnosis and the development of treatments in these underserved and
understudied populations. Based on preliminary data from our group and others, we hypothesize that genetic
variation, transcriptomic and epigenetic changes predisposing to dementia risk in AA and LA will reveal novel
mechanisms associated with disease, as well as similarities with those identified in NHW. Project 3 will leverage
existing AA and LA samples and data from the Alzheimer's Disease Neuroimaging Initiative (ADNI, 66 AA 59
LA) and five Alzheimer’s Disease research Centers (ADRCs, 564 AA, 219 LA): Mayo Clinic, Indiana, 1Florida,
Michigan and Knight ADRCs, plus an additional 300 AA and LA projected participants from these ADRC. Data
from a sixth ADRC (Emory) collected from another 300 AA participants will also be incorporated. This project
aims to: (1) identify blood multi-omic CLPMS in AA and LA that will improve AD diagnosis by effectively
discriminating, with high specificity and sensitivity, between individuals clinically diagnosed with AD and who
have amyloid, tau, neurodegeneration and vascular endophenotype changes characteristic of AD based on
neuroimaging/CSF/plasma biomarker data, versus those who do not have these endophenotype changes
characteristic of AD; (2) identify blood CLPMS that can predict the development, and that track with progression
of AD, by analyzing longitudinal blood multi-omics data-matched to clinical, neuroimaging, neuropsychometric
data from cognitively unimpaired, mild cognitive impairment and AD patients; (3) identify blood CLPMS that are
specific to these populations, based on genetic variants, transcripts or epigenetic changes that may impact the
development of AD, differentially in AA and LA vs. those of NHW ancestry (by comparison to findings from Project
2); (4) to determine if these blood CLPMS exhibit similar patterns in the brain (by comparison to findings from
Project 1); (5) to determine novel pathways, genes and genetic variants involved in AD by using results from
these multi-omics signatures identified in this project. Using a 3-tiered approach to analyze our findings and
Roadmap to Translation to prioritize them, we expect to identify CLPMS in AA and LA in a comparative fashion
with NHWs and will enhance knowledge on biomarker research, thus enabling precision medicine in these
underrepresented populations. These studies will integrate...

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10555729
- **Project number:** 1U19AG074879-01A1
- **Recipient organization:** MAYO CLINIC  JACKSONVILLE
- **Principal Investigator:** Minerva Maria Carrasquillo
- **Activity code:** U19 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2023
- **Award amount:** $580,354
- **Award type:** 1
- **Project period:** 2023-03-15 → 2028-02-29

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10555729

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10555729, Peripheral and Central Biomarkers of Alzheimer's Disease in Diverse Cohorts (1U19AG074879-01A1). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-25 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10555729. Licensed CC0.

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