QUANTIFICATION OF MICROSTRUCTURES IN THE ENTORHINAL-HIPPOCAMPUS PATHWAY AS A SENSITIVE BIOMARKER FOR NEUROD…
Federal financial assistance recorded from USAspending. This is not a procurement contract.
Assistance award details
- Assistance award identifier
- ASST_NON_R00AG088363_075
- FAIN
- R00AG088363
- Recipient
- THE JOHNS HOPKINS UNIVERSITY
- Awarding agency
- Department of Health and Human Services
- Funding agency
- Department of Health and Human Services
- Assistance listing (CFDA)
- 93.866
- Total obligated
- $249,000
- Period
- Aug 1, 2024 – Jul 31, 2029
- Fiscal year
- 2026
- Place of performance state
- MD
- Source file
- FY2026_All_Assistance_Full_20261006.zip
Description
QUANTIFICATION OF MICROSTRUCTURES IN THE ENTORHINAL-HIPPOCAMPUS PATHWAY AS A SENSITIVE BIOMARKER FOR NEURODEGENERATION DURING THE PRECLINICAL STAGE OF ALZHEIMER'S DISEASE - PROJECT SUMMARY/ABSTRACT ALZHEIMER'S DISEASE (AD) IS A GLOBAL ISSUE THAT MUST BE SOLVED URGENTLY BECAUSE OF ITS SIGNIFICANT IMPACT ON PUBLIC HEALTH AND ECONOMICS, AS WELL AS THE QUALITY OF LIFE OF INDIVIDUALS IN THE UNITED STATES AND OTHER AGING SOCIETIES. ONCE COGNITIVE IMPAIRMENT OCCURS IN THE AD CONTINUUM, THERE ARE GREAT DIFFICULTIES IN MODIFYING THE DEVASTATING DISEASE PROCESS. PATHOLOGICAL CHANGES INSIDE THE BRAIN BEGIN SILENTLY MANY YEARS BEFORE THE ONSET OF COGNITIVE IMPAIRMENT. THIS LONG âPRECLINICALâ STAGE PROVIDES US WITH AN OPPORTUNITY FOR TIMELY THERAPEUTIC AND PREVENTIVE INTERVENTIONS. THEREFORE, THE DEVELOPMENT OF TOOLS THAT CAN PREDICT FUTURE COGNITIVE DECLINE DURING THE PRECLINICAL STAGE OF AD IS CRUCIAL. THERE IS A CONSENSUS THAT NEURODEGENERATION HAS A STRONGER CORRELATION WITH COGNITION IN THE DISEASE PROGRESSION ALONG THE AD CONTINUUM, COMPARED TO THE DIAGNOSTIC AD BIOMARKERS SUCH AS AMYLOID AND TAU PROTEINS. IN CONTRAST, NEUROIMAGING MODALITIES CURRENTLY USED TO DETECT BIOMARKERS FOR NEURODEGENERATION ARE NOT SENSITIVE ENOUGH TO DETECT MINUTE CHANGES DURING THE PRECLINICAL STAGE OF AD. HERE, DR. YUTO UCHIDA HYPOTHESIZED THAT MYELOARCHITECTONIC FEATURES OBSERVED IN THE ENTORHINAL-HIPPOCAMPUS PATHWAY COULD SERVE AS SENSITIVE NEURODEGENERATIVE BIOMARKERS GIVEN THAT AD PATHOGENESIS OCCURS IN THE ENTORHINAL CORTICES. IN THIS PROJECT, HE WILL CONDUCT A PROOF-OF-CONCEPT STUDY TO EXAMINE MICROSTRUCTURAL NEURODEGENERATION OF THE ENTORHINAL- HIPPOCAMPUS PATHWAY IN A COMBINED FRAMEWORK: EX VIVO ULTRA-HIGH-FIELD QUANTITATIVE MRI FOLLOWED BY HISTOLOGICAL VERIFICATION IN AIM 1, AND IN VIVO ULTRA-HIGH-FIELD QUANTITATIVE MRI IN CLINICAL SETTINGS FOR HEALTHY CONTROLS IN AIM 2 AND FOR PRECLINICAL AND PRODROMAL AD INDIVIDUALS IN AIM 3. IN AIM 1, POSTMORTEM HEMIBRAINS WILL BE SCANNED ON A H