Description (from grant):
This project aims to understand vascular and inflammatory contributions to Alzheimer’s disease and progressive cerebrovascular disease in New Mexico. We established an infrastructure and formed partnerships to improve dementia care in rural communities of New Mexico and provided them an opportunity to be part of the national network of ADRC centers formed to meet the crisis in AD/ADRD. The NM ADRC is built on years of experience of research on biomarkers to identify vascular contributions to Alzheimer’s and inflammation. We have studied the impact of inflammation and blood-brain barrier (BBB) disruption as key mechanisms of disease. We have a strong track record of multi-consortium studies through RO1 and MarkVCID grants. This proposal for a NM ADRC is to establish a fully integrated ADRC in New Mexico. The UNM Center for Memory and Aging uses Biomarkers to change the way we diagnosis, classify and treat adults with cognitive impairment. The goal of the Neuroimaging Core is to be at the cutting-edge in developing novel neuroimaging biomarkers that help distinguish different types of dementia at an early stage and accurately classify them for future clinical trials.