For Scientists

• Establish and maintain a longitudinal clinical cohort representative of South Texas.
• Develop a comprehensive dataset on ADRD care partners to better understand care needs in the dyad and create a trial-ready cohort of care partners.
• Assess prevalence of (i) disease-defining AD biomarkers (ATNV) and (ii) association of these AD and novel biomarkers of pathology, risk and resilience with disease course and prognosis in MA with ADRDs.
• Deep longitudinal phenotyping of this cohort including annual collection of biospecimens, assessing serial change in imaging, and clinicopathological correlations at autopsy.
• Consent and genetically characterize the core cohort, high-risk families and population neuroscience cohorts.
• Identify novel biomarkers for diagnosis and biological characterization of poorly understood dementia subgroups.

1. Leverage data to optimize key center’s processes: Provide advanced system connectivity, automation and decision support across center cores to optimize and align focus on recruitment, on retention and on completeness of data and sample collection.
2. Collect and share quality data: Apply rigorous collection and management methods across cores and projects to ensure the data meets National Alzheimer’s Coordinating Center’s requirements and support study conclusions and reuse.
3. Provide state-of-the-art statistical methods and support: Support the center’s cores and projects with deep expertise in study design, statistical monitoring, data analyses and results reporting.
4. Educate the next generation of data savvy AD and ADRD researchers: Provide training and mentoring in AD and ADRD relevant informatics and data science for the center’s trainees, investigators and others in the ADRD research community.

1. Access fixed and frozen central nervous system tissues, as well as postmortem skin and cerebrospinal fluid samples, through standardized and rapid autopsies of the center’s participants and other clinic and community donors nationwide.
2. Provide data-driven neuropathologic evaluations and diagnoses for all brain donors, in accordance with institutional dissection and histology protocols.
3. Manage a state-of-the-art biorepository, including fixed and frozen autopsy tissues, biofluids, DNA/RNA and induced pluripotent stem cells, to provide to the center’s researchers and other external investigators.
4. Contribute to scientific research projects regarding the individual and synergistic effects of neurodegenerative, cerebrovascular and traumatic neuropathologies on brain aging and ante-mortem cognitive and behavior.
5. Assist the Research Education Core by providing neuropathology training, research and educational opportunities to biomedical personnel, scientists, students and the public.

1. Conduct population research focused on Mexican American Hispanic across South Texas, leveraging new and existing studies, and in collaboration with all cores of the center, to:
   • Monitor the magnitude and trends of health disparities in the prevalence and incidence of AD/ADRD;
   • Identify risk factors across the life course leading to disparities in AD/ADRD burden via multiple etiologies;
   • Assess the utility of diverse biomarkers derived from blood, CSF, MRI, PET, OCT/A and sensorimotor assessments for Alzheimer’s risk prediction in Mexican Americans Hispanics from South Texas; and
   • Evaluate, adapt and develop culturally and linguistically appropriate tools for assessing cognitive impairment and dementia among Mexican Americans.
2. To develop a sharing resource of population-based data focused on deeply phenotyped Mexican Americans in collaboration with the Data Management and Statistics Core , with the goals of reducing the gap of research disparities in Hispanic populations, enhancing the representation of Mexican Americans (and thereby improving generalizability) in AD/ADRD research and providing harmonized cognitively healthy controls to the enter and the Alzheimer’s Disease Research Center community, by:
   • Developing protocols for data integration and harmonization of phenotypes across population-based studies and ADRCs;
   • Making available longitudinal data resources on resilience and risk factors in Hispanics; and
   • Facilitating data-sharing agreements between the center’s PI’s and external investigators.
3. To provide training and consultation in population neuroscience in collaboration with the Research Education Core, to:
   • Allow health care professionals from diverse backgrounds to develop skills in epidemiologic research methods and health disparities in AD/ADRD; and
   • To implement innovative strategies that address the unique challenges of longitudinal dementia research, by providing training and service locally and internationally.

Team members

1. Biobanking: The goal of this aim is to collect, process, store, share, and track biospecimens (serum, plasma, peripheral blood monocytes, DNA, RNA, CSF (and saliva or stool when indicated), from individuals characterized by the Clinical Core and Population Neuroscience Core, at baseline and subsequent annual study visits. The Data Management and Statistical Core will link these biospecimens to the various biomarkers assayed, as well as to Genomics and Multiomics, Clinical, Population Neuroscience and Imaging cores data.
2. Biomarkers in Hispanics with ADRD: Assess the prevalence and significance of established AD biomarkers in CSF and blood among the Hispanic participants recruited by the center’s Clinical Core and Population Neurosccience Core, and to identify, quantify, and validate novel plasma and CSF biomarkers for preclinical Alzheimer’s, mild cognitive impairment and Alzheimer’s among them. These novel biomarkers include brain/endothelial inflammatory markers, markers of brain vascular injury and neurodegeneration, lipidomic and metabolomic markers and novel sensorimotor markers.
3. Using biomarkers to understand ADRD subtypes: To identify novel CSF and plasma biomarkers in individuals with Suspected Non-Alzheimer Pathophysiology with or without type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) across the spectrum from normal aging to mild cognitive impairment and dementia.
4. Training the next generation: To train students, epidemiologists and biostatisticians in biomarker analysis.

1. PET-Radiochemistry and image acquisition: Provide established and novel PET radiopharmaceuticals to quantify hemodynamics, metabolism, receptor density and disease burden (e.g., amyloid and tau load). The core provides state-of-the-art, quality-controlled PET imaging for research and clinical care, including scanner validations for multi-site trials.
2. MRI/MRS- image acquisition: Provide established and novel measures of brain structure, function and biochemistry using MRI, fMRI and MRS. Core services include quality control, RF coil development, pulse-sequence editing, scan protocol development, scanner validations (for participation in multi-site trials) and post-mortem imaging in collaboration with the Neuropathology Core.
3. Image archiving, access control and sharing: Retain all images and much ancillary data (E-prime files, psychometric and clinical instrument scores, blood chemistries, etc.) in an XNAT archive. Access permissions are project-based and tiered, with access levels set by the project PI. A web interface allows local (UT Health San Antonio) or remote access. The XNAT architecture supports multi-site projects and post hoc data sharing (via data-use agreements), an emphasis of our Imaging Core. XNAT pipelines perform automated uploads from both acquisition sites (UT Health San Antonio’s Research Imaging Institute and Medical Arts and Research Center) and support customized preprocessing.
4. Image preprocessing, statistical analysis and network modeling: Image analysts supervise image preprocessing (normalization, artifact removal, motion correction, etc.) and perform standardized statistical analyses (FSL, SPM, FreeSurfer). Core faculty oversee more advanced statistical analyses and network modeling of imaging data (ICA, SEM, graph theory, and statistical learning). For analyses incorporating psychometrics, non-imaging biomarkers, neuropathology and pedigree or genetic data, the Imaging Core collaborates with the Data Management and Statistics Core.
5. Imaging training and trial-design consulting: Faculty work with the research education component and the degree programs to create imaging-research training experiences for graduate students, postdoctoral fellows and junior faculty. Imaging Core faculty provide trial-design and statistical analysis consulting for all projects using imaging.

1. Identify the causal genetic drivers in the Clinical Core enrollees through routine clinical sequencing.
2. Genetically characterize the participants to expand our understanding of genetic variation modifying disease risk.
3. Serve as a resource for the national ADRD research community with deeply genotyped-phenotyped Hispanic samples.

1. To systematically assess community priorities, needs, barriers to and interests in ADRD research through conduct of focus groups, in-depth interviews and surveys, following the Consolidated Framework for Implementation Research (CFIR) 6.
2. Expand capacity for community-academic partnerships to support the recruitment and retention of older urban and rural Hispanics and their families in South Texas through:
   • A Community Advisory Board
   • A wide range of coalition-building activities including patient and caregiver support
   • Providing technical assistance and training to key the center’s members in other cores
3. Work collaboratively with the Clinical Core and other cores to recruit, engage and retain participants.
4. Disseminate research findings to the scientific community, health care providers and the communities we serve in South Texas.