A ‘CADRE’ of Experts Ensuring Inclusivity of Alzheimer’s Research
Geneticists at the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine and other academic medical centers around the country are leading a National Institute on Aging (NIA) study of how Alzheimer’s disease impacts diverse populations.
Alzheimer’s is the world’s most common neurodegenerative disease. According to a study by researchers at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, in 40 years a staggering 13.9 million people in the Unites States will be diagnosed with Alzheimer’s — nearly triple today’s roughly five million Americans who have the disease.
Of particular concern is the fact that African Americans and Hispanic Americans will be hit hardest. Until recently, however, most research in this area — and medical research, in general — tried to predict, identify, prevent, and treat disease using data gathered from non-Hispanic white individuals.
“Because the same genetic factors don’t necessarily carry the same level of risk in different populations, a lack of diversity in genetics research can be very problematic,” said Margaret A. Pericak-Vance, Ph.D., director of the John P. Hussman Institute for Human Genomics (HIHG) and executive vice chair of the Dr. John T. Macdonald Foundation Department of Human Genetics.
The need for inclusiveness in research resulted in the Collaboration on Alzheimer’s Disease Research (CADRE). Led by Dr. Pericak-Vance, Dr. Eden R. Martin, professor of human genetics and director of the Center for Genetic Epidemiology and Statistical Genetics at HIHG, Drs. Jonathan L. Haines and William S. Bush at Case Western Reserve University, and Dr. Lindsay A. Farrer at Boston University, CADRE has been tasked by the NIA with analyzing sequence data from ethnically diverse late-onset Alzheimer’s patients using state-of-the-art approaches.
CADRE’s research aims to identify new factors that protect against or increase the risk of developing late-onset Alzheimer’s. These findings will then be translated into high-priority therapeutic targets. The NIA awarded CADRE $14.6 million in grant funding over five years to complete the research across multiple sites.
The work being done by CADRE dovetails with the federally funded Alzheimer’s Disease Sequencing Project Follow-Up Study, which has four long-term goals:
(1) move the field closer to enabling prediction of who will develop Alzheimer’s;
(2) fully reveal the genetic architecture of the disease in multiple ethnic groups;
(3) better understand the underpinnings of its pathogenesis; and
(4) aid the quest for therapeutic targets.
To date, genetic studies have pinpointed more than 25 loci associated with late-onset Alzheimer’s disease protection/risk, but very few of these studies have recruited a diverse group of participants that closely represents the unique tapestry of human genetics.
If drug development for late-onset Alzheimer’s continues to be based on data gathered primarily or exclusively from non-Hispanic whites, the resulting therapies will, unavoidably, be tailored to benefit this specific subset of the population, note the study leaders.
“And that’s hardly in keeping with global and national efforts to advance precision, personalized medicine,” said Dr. Martin.
By completing large-scale sequencing for CADRE, Drs. Martin and Pericak-Vance and their colleagues at other institutions will help characterize the genomic architecture of Alzheimer’s disease, setting the stage for the prioritization of targets for therapeutic intervention.
Tags: Alzheimer's disease, CADRE study