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Review
. 2018;64(s1):S161-S189.
doi: 10.3233/JAD-179939.

Religious Orders Study and Rush Memory and Aging Project

David A Bennett  1   2 , Aron S Buchman  1   2 , Patricia A Boyle  1   3 , Lisa L Barnes  1   2   3 , Robert S Wilson  1   2   3 , Julie A Schneider  1   2   4
Affiliations
Review

Religious Orders Study and Rush Memory and Aging Project

David A Bennett et al. J Alzheimers Dis. 2018.

Abstract

Background: The Religious Orders Study and Rush Memory and Aging Project are both ongoing longitudinal clinical-pathologic cohort studies of aging and Alzheimer's disease (AD).

Objectives: To summarize progress over the past five years and its implications for understanding neurodegenerative diseases.

Methods: Participants in both studies are older adults who enroll without dementia and agree to detailed longitudinal clinical evaluations and organ donation. The last review summarized findings through the end of 2011. Here we summarize progress and study findings over the past five years and discuss new directions for how these studies can inform on aging and AD in the future.

Results: We summarize 1) findings on the relation of neurobiology to clinical AD; 2) neurobiologic pathways linking risk factors to clinical AD; 3) non-cognitive AD phenotypes including motor function and decision making; 4) the development of a novel drug discovery platform.

Conclusion: Complexity at multiple levels needs to be understood and overcome to develop effective treatments and preventions for cognitive decline and AD dementia.

Keywords: Alzheimer’s disease; cognitive decline; decision making; dementia; drug discovery; epidemiology; motor function; neuropathology; omics.

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Figures

Fig 1.
Fig 1.
Multi-layered omics, neuropathologic, and clinical data in ROSMAP.
Fig 2.
Fig 2.
Neurobiologic pathways linking risk factors to AD clinical phenotypes.
Fig. 3.
Fig. 3.
Cohort studies generating ante- and post-mortem biospecimens which are used to generate multi-layered omics data. These data feed a systems biology computation pipeline for therapeutic target nomination. There are two stages of functional validation, one with targeted proteomics using brain tissue from the same cases and the other with a variety of high throughput ex vivo models. High value targets will then move to small molecule drug screen and eventual drug selection.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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