Purpose
This FOA invites applications for a National Alzheimer’s Coordinating Center (NACC) whose purpose is to serve NIA and the Alzheimer’s disease and Alzheimer’s disease-related dementias (AD/ADRD) field as 1) a national data resource, collecting data from the Alzheimer’s Disease Research Centers (ADRCs), affiliated data, and sample repositories; 2) a facilitator of current and future AD/ADRD research; and 3) the central hub for organizing and enabling communication within and outside the ADRC program, including annual meetings and steering committees.
Background
The Alzheimer’s Disease Centers of Excellence Program was initiated in 1984 when Congress directed NIH and, in particular, NIA to foster further research related to AD. The NIA ADRC program is authorized by the Public Health Service Act, Section 445, and currently includes 31 NIA-designated ADRCs.
NACC was first established by NIA in 1999 to facilitate collaborative research across the growing ADRC program, making clinical and neuropathological data on all ADRC participants available to researchers in a central resource. NACC, with guidance from an NIA-appointed Clinical Task Force, facilitated the development of the Uniform Data Set and currently collects this information from 31 ADRCs across the country. Additionally, it has supported the development of a frontotemporal dementia (FTD) module and a dementia of Lewy bodies (DLB) module and is working with the Alzheimer’s Biomarker Consortium for Down Syndrome (ABC-DS) to develop a Down Syndrome (DS) module, each to be collected and submitted voluntarily by ADRCs that have a focus in these areas. The Coordinating Center also has been instrumental in streamlining ADRC collaborations by supporting and managing interest groups and steering committees working to maximize the resources of the Centers to advance AD/ADRD research.
NACC has been and will continue to interact with multiple NIA-funded research resources, including multiple national AD/ADRD genetic projects such as the NIA Genetics of Alzheimer’s Disease Data Storage Site (NIAGADS), the Alzheimer’s Disease Genetics Consortium (ADGC), the National Centralized Repository for Alzheimer’s Disease and Related Dementias (NCRAD), and now the Standardized Centralized Alzheimer’s and Related Dementias Neuroimaging (SCAN).
Key Dates
Filed Under: Funding Opportunities