# The Emory Healthy Brain Study: Discovering Predictive Biomarkers for Alzheimer's Disease

> **NIH NIH R01** · EMORY UNIVERSITY · 2024 · $7,011,679

## Abstract

Abstract/Summary
Progress in understanding Alzheimer’s disease and related disorders (ADRD) is close to producing more
effective treatments, creating an urgent need for disease-predictive biomarkers to guide their use. Using
cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) measurements of beta-amyloid and Tau and positron-emission tomography tracers,
we can detect AD pathology in cognitively normal individuals. However, current tools do not allow us to predict
when or even if an individual with asymptomatic pathology will develop symptoms. To address this need, we
propose to longitudinally study ≥3000 cognitively normal individuals (50-75 years at enrollment) in the Emory
Healthy Brain Study to define the frequency of asymptomatic AD and rates of cognitive decline in a racially
diverse cohort of healthy individuals (Specific Aim 1). An important goal of Aim 1 is to achieve ≥33% African-
American participants to provide sufficient power to address questions regarding race- and sex-dependent
differences in biomarkers and risk of cognitive decline. Participants will be phenotyped biennially with cognitive
testing, cardiovascular physiology, brain MRI, and blood and CSF collection. Cross-sectional (Specific Aim 2)
and longitudinal analyses (Specific Aim 3) will test the hypothesis that biomarkers of synaptic, vascular,
myelination, glial immunity, and metabolic functions will identify subgroups who are at greatest risk of
progressing to symptomatic AD. Candidate biomarkers will be identified through state-of-the-art proteomics,
MR imaging, and statistical methods. A highly collaborative data and biospecimen sharing plan will allow other
investigators to leverage these resources to advance a broad spectrum of ADRD research.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10769735
- **Project number:** 5R01AG070937-04
- **Recipient organization:** EMORY UNIVERSITY
- **Principal Investigator:** JAMES J LAH
- **Activity code:** R01 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2024
- **Award amount:** $7,011,679
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 2021-02-15 → 2026-01-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10769735

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10769735, The Emory Healthy Brain Study: Discovering Predictive Biomarkers for Alzheimer's Disease (5R01AG070937-04). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-22 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10769735. Licensed CC0.

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