New Data Center here will be hub for Alzheimer’s research

The National Institute on Aging is funding a new Alzheimer’s Disease Data Coordinating Center at the UW to foster collaborative research based on previously collected data and to design and coordinate new multi-center research projects. All of the Alzheimer’s Disease Centers in the United States will participate in this effort.

The Data Coordinating Center is being established through a cooperative agreement with the NIA that will provide about $3 million each year for five years. Some of the funds will go back to Alzheimer’s Centers to support their involvement in new and existing collaborative research projects. The agreement was effective July 1.

Dr. Walter Kukull, professor of epidemiology, is principal investigator for the Data Center project. Dr. Gerald van Belle, professor of environmental health and biostatistics, is the co-principal investigator. Both are faculty members in the School of Public Health and Community Medicine. The new center will be located in office space in the 4225 Roosevelt Way building next to UW Medical Center-Roosevelt.

The National Institute on Aging supports approximately 30 Alzheimer’s Disease Centers around the country—nearly evenly divided between clinical and research centers. The Alzheimer’s Disease Research Center at the UW is one of these.

The Data Coordinating Center at the UW will maintain databases for all of the national centers and integrate information, including tracking characteristics of research subjects enrolled at each center and keeping a log of biologic specimens stored at each center.

“Our second function is the most exciting,” said van Belle. “We will be responsible for encouraging joint research efforts among these centers. If a researcher at one center has an idea for work that cannot be done at that center alone, he or she can apply to us to get funds for joint research. We will also provide biostatistical, epidemiological and database management support.”

“With the funding for multi-center projects,” Kukull said, “we will be able to help the centers design and set up new research efforts. This will allow us to look at important questions about Alzheimer’s.” Kukull has been working on the epidemiology of Alzheimer’s disease since 1985.

The National Institute on Aging began efforts to coordinate data from all the Alzheimer’s centers several years ago. An Interim Data Center was established at Rush University Medical School in Chicago to begin the process. This initial “minimum data set” will be moved to the new center at the UW.

The local advisory committee for the Data Coordinating Center is chaired by Dr. Murray Raskind, director of the UW Alzheimer’s Disease Research Center and professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences, and includes a number of other ADRC core directors and faculty members who work with that center.

Project manager for the Data Coordinating Center is Jill Thompson. She can be reached by calling 543-3121 or by e-mail at jill@chinook.alz.washington.edu

A preliminary Web site for the project has been established and includes staff contacts and project aims: http://www.alz.washington.edu

Claire Dietz