The period of transition from healthy aging to dementia – called “mild cognitive impairment” – is a primary research focus of Emory’s Alzheimer’s Disease Research Center. The center also examines how differences in race influence dementia and Alzheimer’s. In advancing discovery of the causes and treatment of Alzheimer’s, Emory’s center sponsors clinical, genetic and pathological studies and spearheads educational efforts such as helping family members learn more about caring for relatives with Alzheimer’s and offering the Center’s resources to scientists pursuing similar research.

The Emory center is one of 16 such Alzheimer’s Disease Research Centers funded by the National Institute on Aging, one of the National Institutes of Health. Faculty at the center have played key roles in discovering chemical and pathological changes taking place in the brain in Alzheimer’s disease and in bringing the first proven treatments into clinical practice.

Worth noting: The center’s Web site is targeted at people who may want to participate in clinical research studies at Emory as well as people who may have detected and are concerned about memory loss in family members and would like to learn more about caring for Alzheimer’s disease patients.

Institutions involved: Emory University 

Research focus: The Center’s research focus includes:

• Mild cognitive impairment, a term used to describe a transitional stage that individuals pass through between healthy aging and dementia
• How racial factors influence dementia

GRA investment: GRA provided multi-year matching funds to bring the national center to Georgia and is helping to recruit a GRA Eminent Scholar for the center.

External funding: The center is funded primarily through a $7.4 million grant from the National Institute on Aging, one of the National Institutes of Health.

Web site: http://www.med.emory.edu/ADRC