# Multiethnic Validation of VCID biomarkers in South Texas

> **NIH NIH U01** · UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS HLTH SCIENCE CENTER · 2024 · $1,184,613

## Abstract

ABSTRACT
Cerebral small vessel disease (CSVD) contributes considerably to the global burden of dementia. As vascular
diseases can be both prevented and safely treated, there is a great potential for interventions to reduce the
burden of dementia. However, more research is needed to develop suitable biomarkers of cerebral small
vessel contributions to cognitive impairment and dementia (VCID). The National Institute of Neurological
Disorders and Stroke (NINDS) has supported the MarkVCID initiative to advance the identification and
validation of biomarkers for VCID across seven sites and a coordinating center. As one contributing site, our
team has led the development of two candidate biomarkers, helped define and harmonize all protocols, and
joined multisite validation with the recruitment of the largest Hispanic sample from a single site. In this
proposal, we seek to include a more diverse population across South Texas, including Hispanic and African
Americans, from Houston and San Antonio, from stroke and dementia clinics, primary care, and population
studies. We further propose additional validation of candidate biomarkers in the rich datasets of four cohorts in
the Cohorts for Heart and Aging Research in Genomic Epidemiology (CHARGE) Consortium that have legacy
data (MRI, dementia) and biospecimens (plasma, serum, brain autopsy).
As a MarkVCID site, we aim to perform a comprehensive, longitudinal validation of candidate biomarkers of
CSVD in a diverse sample. We aim to recruit 400 participants over age 55 years with subjective cognitive
complaints, mild cognitive impairment, or early dementia of presumed vascular etiology and retain at least 320
of them over the 5-year follow-up; ~60 will be persons seen in the UH3 phase and will have 7 years of follow-
up. We will perform a comprehensive examination to collect medical history, biospecimens (blood, CSF),
imaging (MRI with cerebrovascular reactivity, optical coherence tomography angiography), and
neuropsychological data (cognition, CDR) following the protocols developed during the UH2/UH3 phases of the
MarkVCID consortium. We will perform a follow-up examination with interim phone screenings for cognitive
status and continuous dementia surveillance via consensus conferences. Further, we will offer brain autopsy to
consenting participants for the assessment of clinicopathological correlates of VCID biomarkers. We will
measure selected fluid and imaging biomarkers following established kit protocols, and perform longitudinal
clinical validation of biomarkers according to their pre-specified hypotheses. Finally, we will perform additional
validation in four cohorts of the CHARGE consortium. Data, biospecimens, and results will be shared with the
consortium and external qualified investigators through the designated MarkVCID coordinating center. Our
team will have strong leadership with the PIs of the UH3 Seshadri, Fornage (multiple PI), Tracy (Co-I), a
proven, young Co-I now taking over as Contact ...

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10925408
- **Project number:** 5U01NS125513-03
- **Recipient organization:** UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS HLTH SCIENCE CENTER
- **Principal Investigator:** MYRIAM FORNAGE
- **Activity code:** U01 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2024
- **Award amount:** $1,184,613
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 2021-09-30 → 2026-07-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10925408

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10925408, Multiethnic Validation of VCID biomarkers in South Texas (5U01NS125513-03). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-27 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10925408. Licensed CC0.

---

*[NIH grants dataset](/datasets/nih-grants) · CC0 1.0*