Monday, October 3, 2022
Dr. Sid O鈥橞ryant, the lead researcher and executive director of the Institute for Translational Research, speaking during the presentation.
at is the recipient of a five-year grant of up to $148.78 million from the , part of the National Institutes of Health. The grant will fund one of the largest studies ever of Alzheimer鈥檚 disease and is the biggest grant the University of North Texas System has received.
, executive director of the Institute for Translational Research at HSC, will lead a team to conduct the first-ever, large-scale study of the biology of Alzheimer鈥檚 disease within a health disparities framework across the three largest racial and ethnic groups in the U.S. 鈥� African American, Mexican American and non-Hispanic white. Alzheimer鈥檚 disease is the most common neurodegenerative dementia, disproportionally impacting African Americans and Hispanics.
The research will seek to understand the differences in Alzheimer鈥檚 disease among
these multi-ethnic populations. To date, the majority of Alzheimer鈥檚 research has
focused on non-Latino white populations, yet Mexican Americans will develop the disease
an average of 10 years earlier in their lifetimes, according to various studies.
African Americans currently suffer the highest burden of Alzheimer鈥檚 disease and related dementias, while Hispanics are projected to have the greatest increase in Alzheimer鈥檚 disease by the year 2060.
鈥淭his transformative grant will propel the life-changing research around Alzheimer鈥檚 disease and health disparities happening in Fort Worth at HSC,鈥� said Dr. Sylvia Trent-Adams, HSC president. 鈥淭he continuation of HSC and Dr. O鈥橞ryant鈥檚 work through this $148.78 million grant is a true testament to the groundbreaking neurodegenerative research the team has already accomplished. The opportunity to change the trajectory of Alzheimer鈥檚 and lead this first-of-its-kind health disparities work is an honor and privilege for all of North Texas and beyond.鈥�
The five-year grant combines the resources of 17 other institutions across the country. However, all participants will be recruited from the Dallas-Fort Worth area and evaluated through the Institute for Translational Research. With the new grant, HSC and the ITR team will receive up to $201 million in NIH funding for the Health & Aging Brain Study 鈥� Health Disparities, a comprehensive study of health disparities in Alzheimer鈥檚 disease to date.
鈥淲e are going to change the world,鈥� said O鈥橞ryant, who also is a professor at the
HSC Texas College of Osteopathic Medicine. 鈥淭here has never been a large-scale study
like this before that will use a health disparities framework in this way. We will
comprehensively study the causes and risks of Alzheimer鈥檚 disease, including social
and cultural factors. This will allow us to study the biology of three different ethnic
groups, all within a sociocultural perspective, and better understand what treatments
are beneficial to each group.鈥�
Participants will join HSC鈥檚 established, community-based Health and Aging Brain Study 鈥� Health Disparities, with 1,500 enrollees taking part from each of the three different ethnic groups for a total of 4,500 participants.
The institute will continue to study the 3,000 participants over age 50 who already are actively enrolled. Through this new grant, 500 participants ages 30 to 49 will be with representatives from each ethnic group. This will allow the research team to capture additional environmental and sociocultural data to study the factors that influence the appearance of Alzheimer鈥檚 disease biomarkers among diverse populations across adulthood.
鈥淭he impact that this award will have will truly make a transformational change in the area of Alzheimer鈥檚 research and clinical care by improving the lives of others,鈥� said , Everett Endowed Professor and TCOM dean. 鈥淲e are so grateful for the NIH and how this investment will help us better understand how Alzheimer鈥檚 disease affects all Americans.鈥�
ITR鈥檚 state-of-the-art imaging center is housed on the HSC campus. Each participant
in the study will undergo comprehensive interviews, examinations, clinical laboratory
tests, a brain MRI and two PET scans. The team will look for amyloid or tau proteins,
which are research biomarkers for Alzheimer鈥檚 disease.
鈥淭his grant will enable us to meet the long-term goal of establishing population-specific, precision medicine approaches for treatment and prevention strategies,鈥� O鈥橞ryant said.
PET scans began in February 2021 and, to date, ITR has collected around 1,700 amyloid PET scans and 1,000 tau PET scans. The Health & Aging Brain Study 鈥� Health Disparities has collected more than 6,000 MRI scans since it began in 2016.
鈥淭his award and project are nothing short of a bio behavioral 鈥榤oonshot鈥� program to understand, alleviate and eventually solve the origins, pain and suffering of Alzheimer鈥檚 disease,鈥� said Dr. Brian Gladue, HSC executive vice president for research and innovation.
Multiple primary investigators will join O鈥橞ryant in this project, including Dr. Leigh Johnson from HSC, Dr. Robert Rissman from UC San Diego, Dr. Arthur Toga from the Keck School of Medicine at the University of Southern California, and Dr. Kristine Yaffe from UC San Francisco.
The study will be funded by a grant from the NIH ().
Study collaborators from 17 institutions across the U.S. will be represented:
- USC 鈥� Laboratory of Neuro Imaging
- USC 鈥� Alzheimer鈥檚 Therapeutic Research Institute
- Barrow Neurological Institute
- University of Wisconsin-Madison
- Children鈥檚 Hospital of Los Angeles
- Washington University in St. Louis
- UC Irvine
- Columbia University
- Wake Forest University
- Georgetown University
- University of Pittsburgh
- Rush University Medical Center
- UT Health San Antonio
- Fordham University
- The Alzheimer鈥檚 Association
- UC San Francisco
- UC San Diego
From , by Steven Bartolotta