# Utilizing Plasma Proteomics to Identify Novel Biomarkers of Cognitive Aging

> **NIH AG F30** · VANDERBILT UNIVERSITY · 2026 · $55,114

## Abstract

PROJECT SUMMARY
Alzheimer’s disease (AD), a leading cause of morbidity and mortality in older adults, causes significant
cognitive impairment, but current therapeutic approaches targeting core AD pathology have not provided
clinically meaningful improvements in cognition. There is strong evidence suggesting parallel or ‘concomitant’
pathologies, such as vascular dysfunction, contribute to cognitive decline. Approximately 80% of AD patients at
autopsy have evidence of co-occurring vascular pathology, and detectable vascular dysfunction predates
detectable changes in traditional AD biomarkers. Associations between vascular risk and cognitive decline
appear most pronounced in individuals with early or mid-life exposure to vascular risk factors prior to onset of
overt cognitive impairment, suggesting that vascular risk may drive early cognitive decline and contribute to or
exacerbate the effects of core AD pathology. To achieve clinically meaningful improvement in cognition, there
is a dire need to develop multi-faceted approaches to prevention and treatment of cognitive decline to target
concomitant risk pathways, such as vascular risk, alongside efforts targeting core AD pathology. Identifying
novel plasma biomarkers predictive of adverse cognitive aging would greatly aid in these efforts by identifying
novel therapeutic targets, but few plasma proteomic studies of AD to date have focused on early clinical
changes, examined disease progression, or replicated results. This F30 proposal aims to fill those gaps by (a)
focusing on participants with normal cognition and mild cognitive impairment, a prodromal form of AD, (b)
examining longitudinal cognitive outcomes, and (c) replicating all results in a separate cohort. Leveraging these
novel strengths, the applicant will take a two-pronged approach to (1) perform hypothesis-driven candidate
protein analyses, based on prior literature and preliminary data, to characterize associations between
ADAMTS13 and cognition, and (2)

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 11235159
- **Project number:** 5F30AG085905-03
- **Recipient organization:** VANDERBILT UNIVERSITY
- **Principal Investigator:** Hailey  Adegboye
- **Activity code:** F30 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** AG
- **Fiscal year:** 2026
- **Award amount:** $55,114
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 2023-12-01T00:00:00 → 2027-11-30T00:00:00

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/11235159

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 11235159, Utilizing Plasma Proteomics to Identify Novel Biomarkers of Cognitive Aging (5F30AG085905-03). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-06-25 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/11235159. Licensed CC0.

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