# Fluid Biomarker Core

> **NIH NIH P01** · UNIVERSITY OF PITTSBURGH AT PITTSBURGH · 2024 · $806,276

## Abstract

FBM Core Summary/Abstract
Recent advances in ultrasensitive blood biomarker assays for Alzheimer’s disease (AD) pathophysiology
suggest that plasma biomarkers can revolutionize AD research and clinical practice. The Fluid Biomarker and
Methodology (FBM) Core was created in PPG4 in response to these advances and will be responsible for
coordinating blood collections, pre-analytical procedures, banking, analysis, and supplying continuous blood
biomarker values to the projects. The FBM Core will generate results for all projects and will be integrated with
all other cores. We will provide quality-controlled results of blood biomarkers in a format that can be easily used
by projects for the analyzes associated with their aims. In collaboration with the neuroimaging and
neuropathology teams, we will contribute to the validation of plasma biomarker assays previously developed by
FBM Core team members and other groups against better-validated neuroimaging and postmortem outcomes.
The FBM Core will seek to collaborate with several large-scale multi-site studies in the field of AD and related
dementia to advance the knowledge of blood biomarkers using a big data approach. We will hold monthly
meetings with other PPG researchers to discuss blood collection and analysis, as well as to discuss
methodological and scientific aspects of blood biomarkers. The FBM Core will also provide training for students,
postdocs, and faculty in fluid biomarker methods and analyses. It is important to emphasize that the optimization
of neuroimaging biomarker techniques in the previous PPG cycles has placed the FBM Core in a privileged
position to use these state-of-art neuroimaging outcomes to support the measures obtained with the new blood
biomarker assays. The specific aims of the FBM Core are: (Aim 1) To coordinate the collection, pre-analytical
procedures, storage, and analysis of blood plasma biomarkers across the PPG4. (Aim 2) To provide quality-
controlled plasma biomarker values of Aβ, tau, neurodegeneration, and neuroinflammation in support of the aims
described in detail in Projects 1-4. (Aim 3) In collaboration with the Imaging Biomarkers Methodology Core, we
aim to validate plasma biomarker assays against neuroimaging outcomes. (Aim 4) In collaboration with the
neuropathology team (Project 4), we aim to validate plasma biomarker assays against postmortem pathological
outcomes. (Aim 5) To train students, post-doctoral fellows, and faculty in plasma biomarker methods. In the
present study, we will generate the first large-scale longitudinal dataset with blood and neuroimaging measures
of astrogliosis, Aβ, tau, and neurodegeneration. The results generated by the projects with the data provided by
the FBM Core will help to elucidate the complex interactions between multiple pathologies in AD. The validation
of blood biomarker measurements against better-established neuroimaging and postmortem outcomes will
indicate the advantages and caveats of using these plasma bi...

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10851906
- **Project number:** 5P01AG025204-18
- **Recipient organization:** UNIVERSITY OF PITTSBURGH AT PITTSBURGH
- **Principal Investigator:** Tharick Pascoal
- **Activity code:** P01 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2024
- **Award amount:** $806,276
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 2004-12-01 → 2028-04-30

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10851906

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10851906, Fluid Biomarker Core (5P01AG025204-18). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-23 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10851906. Licensed CC0.

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