RF1AG087271
Project Grant
Overview
Grant Description
MAPPING AMYLOID, TAU, AND NEURODEGENERATION MARKERS WITH NEUROPSYCHIATRIC PHENOTYPES AND GENOTYPES IN ALZHEIMER'S DISEASE CONTINUUM USING MACHINE LEARNING - PROJECT ABSTRACT / SUMMARY ALZHEIMER’S DISEASE (AD) IS THE LEADING CAUSE OF DEMENTIA AND HAS SIGNIFICANT MEDICAL AND PUBLIC HEALTH CONCERNS. DESPITE EXTENSIVE EFFORTS, THE EXACT RELATIONSHIPS BETWEEN IN-VIVO AMYLOID-BETA (A), TAU (T), AND NEURODEGENERATION (N), NEUROPSYCHIATRIC SYMPTOMS (NPS), VASCULAR RISK FACTORS, AND GENETIC RISKS FOR NPS IN AD ARE POORLY UNDERSTOOD. PATIENTS WITH AD PATHOLOGY EXHIBIT NEUROBIOLOGICAL AND NPS HETEROGENEITY CHARACTERISTICS. THE CENTRAL GOALS HAVE BEEN TO BETTER UNDERSTAND AD’S UNDERLYING NEUROBIOLOGICAL HETEROGENEITY MECHANISMS AND IMPROVE OUTCOMES. THIS STUDY PLANS TO LEVERAGE IN-VIVO ATN MARKERS FROM AMYLOID PET, TAU PET, AND MRI TO INVESTIGATE THE MULTIVARIATE RELATIONSHIPS BETWEEN THESE MARKERS AND NEUROPSYCHIATRIC PHENOTYPES AND GENOTYPES. THIS PROJECT WILL UTILIZE LARGE-SAMPLE DATA FROM THE ALZHEIMER’S DISEASE NEUROIMAGING INITIATIVE (ADNI), WASHINGTON UNIVERSITY’S KNIGHT ALZHEIMER’S DISEASE RESEARCH CENTER (KNIGHT ADRC), BALTIMORE LONGITUDINAL STUDY OF AGING (BLSA), AND NATIONAL ALZHEIMER’S COORDINATING CENTER (NACC) COHORTS. THIS STUDY WILL BE THE FIRST TO SYSTEMATICALLY INVESTIGATE THE MULTIVARIATE RELATIONSHIPS BETWEEN ATN BIOMARKERS, NPS, VASCULAR RISKS, AND GENETIC RISKS FOR NPS VIA MACHINE LEARNING PREDICTIVE MODELING AND HETEROGENEITY ANALYTICS IN AD. IN ALL COHORTS, THE PROJECT WILL CONSISTENTLY AND OPTIMALLY QUANTIFY PET AS REGIONAL DISTRIBUTION VOLUME RATIO (DVR) AND STANDARD UPTAKE VALUE RATIO (SUVR), AS WELL AS MRI AS REGIONAL VOLUME MEASURES. WE WILL INTEGRATE THESE COHORTS AND GENERATE HARMONIZED DATA RESOURCES FOR MACHINE LEARNING METHOD DEVELOPMENTS AND THEIR APPLICATIONS. AIM 1 WILL DEVELOP AND OPTIMIZE MACHINE LEARNING/ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE METHODS IN THE CONTEXT OF REGIONAL ATN BIOMARKERS AND IDENTIFY THEIR MULTIVARIATE PREDICTIVE RELATIONSHIPS WITH GLOBAL NPS AND HIGHLY PREVALENT DOMAIN-SPECIFIC NPS FEATURES. THIS AIM WILL IDENTIFY DOMINANT ATN REGIONAL HUBS COLLECTIVELY INVOLVED IN NPS PROCESSES. AIM 2 WILL IDENTIFY THE REGIONAL HETEROGENEITY OF ATN BIOMARKERS VIA SEMI-SUPERVISED MACHINE LEARNING AND REPRODUCIBILITY ANALYTICAL METHODS. THIS AIM WILL CORRELATE THE ATN PROFILES AND NPS PREVALENCE AND SEVERITY BETWEEN IDENTIFIED SUBGROUPS OF PATIENTS OR CONTROLS AND EACH SUBGROUP OF PATIENTS TO TEST THE HYPOTHESIS OF WHETHER ATN AND NPS PHENOTYPES DIFFER BETWEEN SUBGROUPS OF PATIENTS. AIM 3 WILL EXAMINE THE RELATIONSHIPS OF INDIVIDUALIZED ATN HETEROGENEITY SIGNATURES WITH BASELINE NPS AND LONGITUDINAL TRAJECTORIES IN NPS. AIM 4 WILL STUDY VASCULAR RISK AND GENETICS FOR NPS TO TEST WHETHER ATN AND NPS HETEROGENEITY SIGNATURES HAVE DIFFERENTIAL GENETIC ETIOLOGIES. IN SUMMARY, THIS INNOVATIVE PROJECT WILL PROVIDE CRITICAL INFORMATION ON NEUROPSYCHIATRIC ASPECTS OF AD MECHANISMS AND SIGNIFICANTLY CONTRIBUTE TO PRECISION MEDICINE IN THE DIAGNOSIS AND TREATMENT OF AD PATIENTS WITH NPS.
Awardee
Funding Goals
TO ENCOURAGE BIOMEDICAL, SOCIAL, AND BEHAVIORAL RESEARCH AND RESEARCH TRAINING DIRECTED TOWARD GREATER UNDERSTANDING OF THE AGING PROCESS AND THE DISEASES, SPECIAL PROBLEMS, AND NEEDS OF PEOPLE AS THEY AGE. THE NATIONAL INSTITUTE ON AGING HAS ESTABLISHED PROGRAMS TO PURSUE THESE GOALS. THE DIVISION OF AGING BIOLOGY EMPHASIZES UNDERSTANDING THE BASIC BIOLOGICAL PROCESSES OF AGING. THE DIVISION OF GERIATRICS AND CLINICAL GERONTOLOGY SUPPORTS RESEARCH TO IMPROVE THE ABILITIES OF HEALTH CARE PRACTITIONERS TO RESPOND TO THE DISEASES AND OTHER CLINICAL PROBLEMS OF OLDER PEOPLE. THE DIVISION OF BEHAVIORAL AND SOCIAL RESEARCH SUPPORTS RESEARCH THAT WILL LEAD TO GREATER UNDERSTANDING OF THE SOCIAL, CULTURAL, ECONOMIC AND PSYCHOLOGICAL FACTORS THAT AFFECT BOTH THE PROCESS OF GROWING OLD AND THE PLACE OF OLDER PEOPLE IN SOCIETY. THE DIVISION OF NEUROSCIENCE FOSTERS RESEARCH CONCERNED WITH THE AGE-RELATED CHANGES IN THE NERVOUS SYSTEM AS WELL AS THE RELATED SENSORY, PERCEPTUAL, AND COGNITIVE PROCESSES ASSOCIATED WITH AGING AND HAS A SPECIAL EMPHASIS ON ALZHEIMER'S DISEASE. SMALL BUSINESS INNOVATION RESEARCH (SBIR) PROGRAM: TO EXPAND AND IMPROVE THE SBIR PROGRAM, TO INCREASE PRIVATE SECTOR COMMERCIALIZATION OF INNOVATIONS DERIVED FROM FEDERAL RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT, TO INCREASE SMALL BUSINESS PARTICIPATION IN FEDERAL RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT, AND TO FOSTER AND ENCOURAGE PARTICIPATION OF SOCIALLY AND ECONOMICALLY DISADVANTAGED SMALL BUSINESS CONCERNS AND WOMEN-OWNED SMALL BUSINESS CONCERNS IN TECHNOLOGICAL INNOVATION. SMALL BUSINESS TECHNOLOGY TRANSFER (STTR) PROGRAM: TO STIMULATE AND FOSTER SCIENTIFIC AND TECHNOLOGICAL INNOVATION THROUGH COOPERATIVE RESEARCH DEVELOPMENT CARRIED OUT BETWEEN SMALL BUSINESS CONCERNS AND RESEARCH INSTITUTIONS, TO FOSTER TECHNOLOGY TRANSFER BETWEEN SMALL BUSINESS CONCERNS AND RESEARCH INSTITUTIONS, TO INCREASE PRIVATE SECTOR COMMERCIALIZATION OF INNOVATIONS DERIVED FROM FEDERAL RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT, AND TO FOSTER AND ENCOURAGE PARTICIPATION OF SOCIALLY AND ECONOMICALLY DISADVANTAGED SMALL BUSINESS CONCERNS AND WOMEN-OWNED SMALL BUSINESS CONCERNS IN TECHNOLOGICAL INNOVATION.
Grant Program (CFDA)
Awarding / Funding Agency
Place of Performance
Missouri
United States
Geographic Scope
State-Wide
Washington University was awarded
ATN Biomarkers & Neuropsychiatric Phenotypes in AD - Machine Learning Study
Project Grant RF1AG087271
worth $3,188,901
from National Institute on Aging in September 2025 with work to be completed primarily in Missouri United States.
The grant
has a duration of 4 years and
was awarded through assistance program 93.866 Aging Research.
The Project Grant was awarded through grant opportunity Research on Current Topics in Alzheimer's Disease and Its Related Dementias (R01 Clinical Trial Optional).
Status
(Ongoing)
Last Modified 9/5/25
Period of Performance
9/1/25
Start Date
8/31/29
End Date
Funding Split
$3.2M
Federal Obligation
$0.0
Non-Federal Obligation
$3.2M
Total Obligated
Activity Timeline
Additional Detail
Award ID FAIN
RF1AG087271
SAI Number
RF1AG087271-1578197135
Award ID URI
SAI UNAVAILABLE
Awardee Classifications
Private Institution Of Higher Education
Awarding Office
75NN00 NIH National Insitute on Aging
Funding Office
75NN00 NIH National Insitute on Aging
Awardee UEI
L6NFUM28LQM5
Awardee CAGE
2B003
Performance District
MO-90
Senators
Joshua Hawley
Eric Schmitt
Eric Schmitt
Modified: 9/5/25