To tackle the human health challenges that face the world today, the FNIH develops collaborations with top experts from government, industry, academia and the not-for-profit sector and provides a neutral environment where we can work productively toward a common goal.
The Biomarkers Consortium’s Targeted Plasma-Based Biomarkers in Alzheimer’s Disease (AD), completed in July 2012, was the first part of a multi-phased effort utilizing samples from the Alzheimer’s Disease Neuroimaging Initiative (ADNI) to validate multiplex panels in both plasma and cerebrospinal fluid (CSF), to diagnose patients with AD and to monitor disease progression.
The AD Targeted Cerebrospinal Fluid (CSF) Proteomics Project, completed in Q2Y15, completed an initial validation of a multiplexed panel of known biomarkers, examined BACE levels and enzymatic activity, and set up the initial validation of a mass spectroscopy panel using AD cerebrospinal fluid samples from the Alzheimer’s Disease Neuroimaging Initiative (ADNI).
Sarcopenia 2 seeks to establish evidence-based cut-points for muscle mass and strength and determine their predictive validity for clinically meaningful outcomes (such as mobility, fractures, hospitalization and death); evaluate relative strength as a discriminator for mobility limitation and incident disability; and explore the potential usefulness of sarcopenia as a clinical endpoint in randomized clinical trials.
The Sarcopenia 1 project launched in 2010 and aimed to establish the first evidence-based definition of sarcopenia (muscle weakness), which is still not recognized as a medical condition.
whorton@fnih.orgThe Biomarkers Consortium’s PET Radioligand Project, completed in December 2012, developed improved, more sensitive PET radioligands with higher binding to the peripheral benzodiazepine receptor. Findings from this study suggest that the [11C]PBR38 ligand, in particular, may be useful in detecting progression from mild cognitive impairment or treatment response in Alzheimer’s Disease.
The Biomarkers Consortium’s Placebo Data Analysis Project in Alzheimer’s Disease/Mild Cognitive Impairment Clinical Trials combined placebo data from large clinical trials provided by multiple pharmaceutical companies to create datasets of 3,000 to 5,000 subjects for Alzheimer’s disease (AD) and mild cognitive impairment (MCI) groups. The goal of the project was to develop better measures of disease progression in terms of outcome measures that have both low variability and are sensitive to change, for use in future clinical trials.
The Biomarkers Consortium Longitudinal CSF Proteomics Project addresses the need for tools for early diagnosis and measurement of disease progression in Alzheimer’s disease. This longitudinal study will measure the rate of change of five protein biomarkers within patients from the Alzheimer’s Disease Neuroimaging Initiative Cohort with Mild Cognitive Impairment (MCI), AD and healthy controls, utilizing a multiplexed mass spectrometry-based approach.