In close collaboration with the Clinical Core and the Data Management and Statistics (DMS) Core, the Boston University Alzheimer's Disease Center (BU ADC) OR Core is responsible for leading recruitment and retention efforts of individuals with Alzheimer's disease (AD), chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE), and their prodromal stages to support the Center's local and national clinical research portfolio using traditional as well as novel methodologies. The OR Core works to recruit and retain African Americans, the major underrepresented racial/ethnic group in Boston, with whom we have been working for the past 20 years. To accomplish these goals, the OR Core team will continue to (1) work closely with local organizations and institutions including our BU ADC African American Community Action Council, the Massachusetts Alzheimer's Disease Research Center (ADRC) OR Core, the Alzheimer's Association of Massachusetts and New Hampshire, the Veterans Affairs Boston Healthcare System (VA Boston), the Bedford Veterans Affairs Hospital (Bedford VA), the Concussion Legacy Foundation, and other local, regional, and national groups; (2) outreach through newsletters, websites, social media, television, radio, print news media, memory screenings, talks, seminars, and participation at community events; (3) develop novel print materials and innovative courses and workshops for healthcare professionals and the public that will lead to new participant referrals to our center. Our aims for the proposed renewal cycle are as follows: Specific Aim 1: To facilitate the recruitment and retention of participants in the BU ADC research registry and BU ADC-sponsored clinical research projects with an emphasis on individuals with subjective cognitive impairment (SCI), mild cognitive impairment (MCI) due to AD, early-stage AD dementia, and CTE. Specific Aim 2: To continue and enhance our relationships with the African American community in Boston to facilitate the recruitment and retention of African American participants in the BU ADC research registry and BU ADC-sponsored clinical research projects. Specific Aim 3: To develop innovative AD and CTE print materials, courses, and workshops for healthcare professionals and the public that will lead to new participant referrals to our center and can be exported for use in other ADCs across the country.
Research Education Component (REC) Program - Abstract A major research focus of the Boston University Alzheimer's Disease Center (BU ADC) is the intersection between brain aging, cognitive decline, and the long-term effects of Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI). Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy (CTE) is now widely recognized as a significant cause of progressive dementia in professional athletes who have sustained repeated mild TBI. The BU ADC is committed to training the next generation of leaders in clinical, basic, and translational research in neurodegenerative diseases including CTE. To this end, the Research Education Component (REC) will leverage the unique expertise of the BU ADC and affiliated faculty at BU to provide advanced training in clinical, basic, and translational research as it relates to CTE and to common themes of neurodegeneration including the basic mechanisms, as well as their clinical, cognitive, and behavioral sequelae. The scientific and research training of the REC will be focused on: (1) CTE, including its pathology, pathophysiology, risk factors, genetics, biomarkers, clinical symptoms, and behavioral manifestations, and (2) common themes related to neurodegeneration, including how pathology, pathophysiology, risk factors, genetics, biomarkers, clinical symptoms, and behavioral manifestations of CTE compare and contrast to other neurodegenerative diseases such as those that lead to frontotemporal dementia, primary progressive aphasia, corticobasal syndrome, dementia with Lewy bodies, AD, and others. For example, research topics may include comparing and contrasting the role of tau in various neurodegenerative disorders, and its spread through the brain as one final common pathway. Other research topics may include comparing the pathophysiology and behavioral manifestations of the emotional dysregulation in CTE compared to that of the frontotemporal lobar degenerations. The REC will thus prepare the next generation of clinicians, researchers, and clinician-scientists to treat, understand, and develop new therapies not only for CTE but for the entire spectrum of neurodegenerative diseases in aging.
