Core E - Outreach, Recruitment and Education Core Funded Grant uri icon

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  • NEUROIMAGING CORE PROJECT SUMMARY/ABSTRACT The Neuroimaging Core is a newly proposed Core that will greatly enhance the imaging capabilities of the Massachusetts ADRC (MADRC). The Imaging Core will leverage MADRC investigator expertise in molecular, functional, and structural imaging and the state-of-the-art resources of the Martinos Center for Biomedical Imaging and the Massachusetts General Hospital PET Core to augment our Center's strengths in cutting edge, multi-modality imaging research. The Imaging Core will provide direct support for Project 1 (Hedden) and Project 2 (Gomez-Isla) through volumetric and functional connectivity MRI and PET amyloid imaging data acquisition and analyses. We will also continue to support the imaging components of other MADRC investigator led projects, including ongoing NIH funded PPG, R01s, K23, multiple foundation grants and future MADRC pilot grants. Working closely with the Clinical and Data Cores, the Imaging Core will support standardized acquisition protocols and catalogued storage of neuroimaging data collected on subjects in the MADRC Longitudinal Cohort participating in MADRC affiliated imaging research projects. We will also acquire MRI (3T) and PET amyloid imaging on a small number of LC subjects of special interest to our center and will provide these data to Projects 1 and 2, as well as to other MADRC affiliated studies with appropriate IRB approval. We will facilitate the implementation of new PET tracers, currently being tested in affiliated projects, including recently developed PET ligands for tau, inflammation, and mGluR5 into MADRC affiliated research studies. Similarly, we will facilitate the implementation of novel MRI methods and analytic tools, such as functional connectivity, the connectome scanner, and cortical thickness signatures into new and ongoing MADRC projects. The Imaging Core will further enhance MADRC's active involvement in national multi-center projects with major neuroimaging components, including ADNI, DIAN, NIFD, NIH and industry sponsored multi-center clinical trials, including the upcoming ADCS Anti-Amyloid Treatment in Asymptomatic AD (A4) trial. We will work closely with the Outreach Core to lead national efforts to educate the public and health care professionals about the appropriate clinical use of PET amyloid imaging and with the ADCS and collaborating ADRCs on important issues related to disclosure of amyloid status to research participants. We will provide expertise on multi-modality image acquisition and analysis to young investigators interested in incorporating neuroimaging into pilot projects and career development proposals. Neuroimaging is likely to play an even more integral role in AD clinical research over the next 5 years. This new Imaging Core will work closely with the existing MADRC cores, substantially augment our ability to provide frontline support to MADRC affiliated imaging studies, including two of the research projects proposed for the renewal, and will facilitate new collaborations both within our Center and with other ADCs.
  • OUTREACH, RECRUITMENT & EDUCATION CORE PROJECT SUMMARY/ABSTRACT The MADRC Outreach, Recruitment, and Education Core has transitioned to new leadership over the past two years and has refocused its mission on community outreach and facilitating rapid enrollment into MADRC affiliated clinical research studies. The evolution of our field towards earlier detection and intervention in AD presents new challenges for public education and for recruitment of diverse participants into biomarker intensive studies. We seek to provide leadership in increasing public awareness about the critical importance of participation in AD clinical research and develop accessible information on the evolving concepts of very early AD. Over the past cycle, we supported the highly successful recruitment and retention of subjects for the Longitudinal Cohort as well as multiple MADRC affiliated clinical research projects and national multi-center studies, including ADNI, DIAN, ADCS and industry sponsored clinical trials. We have now instituted a proactive needs assessment for the Longitudinal Cohort (LC) and to support new MADRC affiliated research and national multi-center projects. We are working closely with the Clinical Core on retention of the Longitudinal Cohort, particularly participants from under-represented minorities, and to build a comprehensive Research Registry to supplement the LC in identifying clinically normal individuals and symptomatic patients who are ready to enroll in clinical research projects. We propose several new programs to serve the diversity recruitment needs of our Center, including an innovative Participant Ambassador Program and partnership with the Clinical Core on the new Spanish Memory Clinic. We are expanding our outreach to local community health and senior centers to increase the diversity of research participants. We are also reinvigorating our partnership with a diverse Community Advisory Board to better understand the potential barriers to enrolling participants from under-represented minority communities into intensive clinical trials with biomarker and imaging procedures, such as the ADCS Anti-Amyloid Treatment in Asymptomatic AD (A4) secondary prevention trial. We will coordinate with the newly proposed Neuroimaging Core, and our colleagues at other ADCs, to develop informative materials to educate the public and professionals about the appropriate use of PET amyloid imaging and methods to safely disclose information about amyloid status to research participants. We will implement quantitative metrics to assess our impact in community education programs and will develop anonymous subject satisfaction questionnaires to further improve the experience of our research participants. We remain committed to training young investigators and clinicians about the importance of early detection of AD and related dementias, and will support educational forums focused on advances in AD research, both locally and nationally, as well as working with the educational components of each of the MADRC cores to enhance training programs across the Center.