First-Ever FNIH Alzheimer’s Initiative Celebrates 20-Year Anniversary

More than two decades ago, the FNIH recognized that solving complex health problems, such as Alzheimer’s disease, required the collective efforts and resources of many individual researchers and organizations. The Alzheimer’s Disease Neuroimaging Initiative (ADNI) was one of the first examples of such cross-functional collaboration among government agencies, life science companies, academia, and nonprofits for advancing biomedical research. Initiated by the National Institute on Aging in 2004 and managed by the FNIH until 2022, ADNI is the largest and longest continually monitored Alzheimer’s study. A recent special issue of the journal Alzheimer’s and Dementia marked the 20-year anniversary of ADNI with a collection of articles highlighting the far-reaching impact of this project.

In “The origins of ADNI,” coauthor and FNIH Board Chair Steven Paul, MD, recounts the series of discussions that led to the inception and implementation of ADNI as a public-private partnership to address the need for objective biomarkers in clinical trials for Alzheimer’s disease. The authors discuss how various barriers were overcome, particularly the then-unique decision to make all data freely accessible to the research community. Over 20 years, ADNI has yielded thousands of scientific publications and, although originally focused on imaging, has generated valuable insights regarding the importance of blood-based biomarkers of Alzheimer’s.

In a complementary article, FNIH leaders Alessio Travaglia, PhD, and Steve Hoffmann, MS, reflect on how ADNI’s paradigm of openly sharing knowledge, expertise, and resources has dramatically transformed and advanced Alzheimer’s research, leading to today’s “golden era” in neuroscience. The recent breakthroughs in disease-modifying treatments for Alzheimer’s and in diagnostic blood tests can be traced to the foundational data collected and shared through ADNI.

“Alzheimer’s disease is one of the biggest health challenges of our time, and the prevalence is expected to grow,” said Julie Gerberding, MD, MPH, President and CEO of the FNIH. “FNIH’s long-standing collaborations, beginning with ADNI, have already advanced Alzheimer’s research significantly and will expedite the development of effective treatments in the future.”

ADNI established a model for collaborative research that has served as the framework for numerous subsequent initiatives. The FNIH continues its focus on Alzheimer’s disease through the Accelerating Medicines Partnership® (AMP®) Alzheimer’s Disease 1.0 and 2.0 and Biomarkers Consortium projects to predict and track Alzheimer’s disease. A future FNIH study on Alzheimer’s aims to develop a model to enable more effective and personalized treatment strategies for people with the disease.