# Neuroimaging and Molecular Markers of AD and Neurodegenerative Disease after Concussion

> **NIH NIH R01** · OHIO STATE UNIVERSITY · 2020 · $390,712

## Abstract

Project Summary
Neurodegenerative disease processes leading to Alzheimer’s disease (AD) start decades before they are
clinically observed and are difficult to treat at the stage of a formal diagnosis. It is therefore imperative to
determine risk factors early in the course of the disease. Accumulating evidence suggests that concussion, or
mild TBI, is associated with dementia when combined with additional risk factors such as genetic risk for AD,
repetitive injury, and age at injury. As mild TBI has widespread prevalence and represents the majority of all
head injuries, the potential link to neurodegenerative disease presents a major public health problem.
However, there is a fundamental gap in understanding the mechanisms by which mild TBI confers risk for AD
and other neurodegenerative diseases. The long-term goal of this project is to identify preclinical biomarkers
for neurodegenerative disease following mild TBI that provide insight into the mechanisms linking mild TBI to
neurodegenerative disease. The overall objective of the current application is to identify genetic, epigenetic,
and blood-based protein biomarkers of neurodegeneration that are associated with MRI brain metrics of AD
pathology longitudinally following mild TBI. The central hypothesis of the proposed project is that mild TBI
confers risk for AD and other neurodegenerative diseases when combined with genetic, epigenetic, and other
risk factors. We will test our hypothesis by pursuing three specific aims: Aim 1. Determine the longitudinal
effects of genetic risk for AD and mild TBI on MRI-based measures of early AD pathology. Aim 2. Identify
epigenetic markers of AD and mild TBI that are associated with MRI-based measures of early AD pathology.
Aim 3. Identify fluid biomarkers of neurodegenerative disease in mild TBI that are associated with MRI-based
measures of early AD pathology. The proposed research is significant because it is expected to advance
understanding of who may be at increased risk for AD in the preclinical course of the disease and, in the long
term, facilitate the development of a temporal model of disease progression that outlines when each biomarker
becomes predictive of AD. The approach is innovative because it leverages longitudinal and multimodal data
(genetics, epigenetics, blood-based proteins, MRI, neurocognitive data) from an unparalleled database of close
to 600 recent war veterans. Ultimately, such knowledge has the potential to inform clinical judgments regarding
who may need to start a treatment regimen to prevent the onset of dementia.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 9897508
- **Project number:** 5R01AG058822-02
- **Recipient organization:** OHIO STATE UNIVERSITY
- **Principal Investigator:** Jasmeet Pannu Hayes
- **Activity code:** R01 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2020
- **Award amount:** $390,712
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 2019-04-01 → 2024-01-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/9897508

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 9897508, Neuroimaging and Molecular Markers of AD and Neurodegenerative Disease after Concussion (5R01AG058822-02). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-22 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/9897508. Licensed CC0.

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