# Core D: Neuropathology Core

> **NIH NIH P30** · NORTHWESTERN UNIVERSITY · 2020 · $286,714

## Abstract

PROJECT SUMMARY – NEUROPATHOLOGY CORE
Autopsy remains the gold standard for the diagnosis of diseases that cause dementia. It provides knowledge
essential for developing biomarkers, understanding cellular pathology responsible for the dementia, and
retrospectively identifying features most reliable for early diagnosis. Without this information rational discovery
of disease-modifying drugs for dementia syndromes would not be possible. The Neuropathology Core
therefore plays a pivotal role in all functions of the Northwestern ADC. In the next cycle, the Neuropathology
Core will provide state-of-the-art postmortem diagnosis on all Clinical Core subjects that come to autopsy. The
results will be made available in a timely fashion to family, clinicians, researchers, and NACC. Another key
function of the Neuropathology Core will be to collect, curate, and distribute biospecimens to qualified research
projects, both within Northwestern University and for multi-center collaborations including NCRAD and ADGC.
In addition to supporting research related to the aging-MCI-AD continuum, the Neuropathology Core will have
a special focus on unusually successful cognitive aging (SuperAgers), non-amnestic dementias such as
primary progressive aphasia (PPA), and non-AD pathologies related to frontotemporal lobar degeneration
(FTLD). Pursuing these themes, which constitute areas of special emphasis for the Northwestern ADC, will
require bilateral tissue sampling for detection of hemispheric asymmetry and unbiased stereology for
quantitative comparisons of cellular pathology with in vivo clinical and imaging data. The infrastructure of the
Northwestern ADC will also enable the Neuropathology Core to train the next generation of neuropathologists
in a multidisciplinary setting that includes close interaction with clinicians, imagers and neuroanatomists.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 9973052
- **Project number:** 5P30AG013854-25
- **Recipient organization:** NORTHWESTERN UNIVERSITY
- **Principal Investigator:** EILEEN H. BIGIO
- **Activity code:** P30 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2020
- **Award amount:** $286,714
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** — → 2022-06-30

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/9973052

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 9973052, Core D: Neuropathology Core (5P30AG013854-25). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-22 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/9973052. Licensed CC0.

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