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[Preprint]. 2025 Jul 23:2025.07.22.25331791.

doi: 10.1101/2025.07.22.25331791.

The PREVENT-AD cohort: accelerating Alzheimer's disease research and treatment in Canada and beyond

Sylvia Villeneuve^{1

2

3

4

5}, Judes Poirier^{1

2}, John C S Breitner^{1

2}, Jennifer Tremblay-Mercier¹, Jordana Remz¹, Jean-Michel Raoult¹, Yara Yakoub^{1

5}, Jonathan Gallego-Rudolf^{1

5}, Ting Qiu^{1

5}, Alfonso Fajardo Valdez^{1

5}, Bery Mohammediyan^{1

6

7}, Mohammadali Javanray^{1

5}, Amelie Metz^{1

5}, Safa Sanami⁸, Valentin Ourry¹, Alfie Wearn⁹, Alexandre Pastor-Bernier¹, Manon Edde^{1

10}, Julie Gonneaud^{1

11}, Cherie Strikwerda-Brown^{1

12}, Christine L Tardif^{3

9

13}, Claudine J Gauthier^{1

8

14}, Maxime Descoteaux¹⁰, Mahsa Dadar^{1

2

4}, Étienne Vachon-Presseau^{1

15

16

17}, Andree-Ann Baril^{6

7}, Simon Ducharme^{1

2}, Maxime Montembeault^{1

2}, Maiya R Geddes^{1

3

9}, Jean-Paul Soucy³, Natasha Rajah¹⁸, Robert Laforce¹⁹, Christian Bocti²⁰, Christos Davatzikos²¹, Lune Bellec^{22

23}, Pedro Rosa-Neto^{2

3

9}, Sylvain Baillet³, Alan C Evans³, D Louis Collins^{3

9

13}, M Mallar Chakravarty^{2

4}, Kaj Blennow^{24

25

26

27}, Henrik Zetterberg^{24

25

28

29

30

31}, R Nathan Spreng^{1

2

3

9}, Alexa Pichet Binette^{1

23

32

33}; PREVENT-AD Research Group

Affiliations

¹ StoP-AD Centre, Douglas Mental Health University Institute, McGill University, Montréal, QC H4H 1R3, Canada.
² Department of Psychiatry, McGill University, Montréal, QC H3A 1A1, Canada.
³ McConnell Brain Imaging Center, Montreal Neurological Institute, McGill University, Montréal, QC H3A 2B4, Canada.
⁴ Cerebral Imaging Centre, Douglas Mental Health University Institute, McGill University, Montréal, QC H4H 1R3, Canada.
⁵ Integrated Program in Neuroscience, McGill University, Montréal, QC H3A 0G4, Canada.
⁶ Research Center of the CIUSSS-NIM, Hôpital du Sacré-Coeur de Montréal, Montreal, QC H4J 1C5, Canada.
⁷ Department of Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, Université de Montréal, Montréal, QC H3T 1J4, Canada.
⁸ Department of Physics, Concordia University, Montréal, QC H4B 1R6, Canada.
⁹ Department of Neurology and Neurosurgery, McGill University, Montréal, QC H3A 1A1, Canada.
¹⁰ Faculté des sciences, Département d'informatique, Université de Sherbrooke, Sherbrooke, QC J1K 2R1, Canada.
¹¹ Normandie Univ, UNICAEN, INSERM, U1237, PhIND "Physiopathology and Imaging of Neurological Disorders", NeuroPresage Team, GIP Cyceron, 14032 Caen, France.
¹² School of Psychological Science, The University of Western Australia, Perth, Western Australia 6009, Australia.
¹³ Department Biomedical Engineering, McGill University, Montréal, QC H3A 2B4, Canada.
¹⁴ Centre ÉPIC, Montreal Heart Institute, Montréal, QC H1T 1N6, Canada.
¹⁵ Faculty of Dental Medicine and Oral Health Sciences, McGill University, Montreal, QC H3A 1G1, Canada.
¹⁶ Department of Anesthesia, Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, McGill University, Montreal, QC H3G 2M1, Canada.
¹⁷ Alan Edwards Center for Research on Pain, McGill University, Montreal, QC H3A 2B4, Canada.
¹⁸ Department of Psychology, Toronto Metropolitan University, Toronto, ON M5S 2E5, Canada.
¹⁹ Clinique interdisciplinaire de mémoire, CHU de Québec affilié à l'Université Laval, Québec, QC G1V 4G2, Canada.
²⁰ Division of Neurology, Department of Medicine, Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, Université de Sherbrooke, Sherbrooke, QC J1H 5H3, Canada.
²¹ AI2D Center for AI and Data Science for Integrated Diagnostics, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA 19104, USA.
²² Psychology Department, Université de Montréal, Montréal, QC H2V 2S9, Canada.
²³ Centre de Recherche de l'Institut Universitaire de Gériatrie de Montréal, Montréal, QC H3W 1W5, Canada.
²⁴ Department of Psychiatry and Neurochemistry, Institute of Neuroscience and Physiology, Sahlgrenska Academy, University of Gothenburg, 431 39 Mölndal, Sweden.
²⁵ Clinical Neurochemistry Lab, Sahlgrenska University Hospital, 43180 Mölndal, Sweden.
²⁶ Paris Brain Institute, ICM, Pitié-Salpêtrière Hospital, Sorbonne University, 75013 Paris, France.
²⁷ Neurodegenerative Disorder Research Center, Division of Life Sciences and Medicine, and Department of Neurology, Institute on Aging and Brain Disorders, University of Science and Technology of China and First Affiliated Hospital of USTC, Hefei, Anhui, 230026 P.R. China.
²⁸ Department of Neurodegenerative Disease, University College London Institute of Neurology, London WC1E 6BT, UK.
²⁹ UK Dementia Research Institute at UCL, London NW1 3BT, UK.
³⁰ Hong Kong Center for Neurodegenerative Diseases, InnoHK, 999077 Hong Kong, China.
³¹ Wisconsin Alzheimer's Disease Research Center, University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI 53792, USA.
³² Department of Physiology and Pharmacology, Université de Montréal, Montréal, QC H3C 3J7, Canada.
³³ Clinical Memory Research Unit, Department of Clinical Sciences Malmö, Lund University, 224 41 Lund, Sweden.

PMID: 40778177
PMCID: PMC12330406
DOI: 10.1101/2025.07.22.25331791

The PREVENT-AD cohort: accelerating Alzheimer's disease research and treatment in Canada and beyond

Sylvia Villeneuve et al. medRxiv. 2025.

[Preprint]. 2025 Jul 23:2025.07.22.25331791.

doi: 10.1101/2025.07.22.25331791.

Authors

Affiliations

¹ StoP-AD Centre, Douglas Mental Health University Institute, McGill University, Montréal, QC H4H 1R3, Canada.
² Department of Psychiatry, McGill University, Montréal, QC H3A 1A1, Canada.
³ McConnell Brain Imaging Center, Montreal Neurological Institute, McGill University, Montréal, QC H3A 2B4, Canada.
⁴ Cerebral Imaging Centre, Douglas Mental Health University Institute, McGill University, Montréal, QC H4H 1R3, Canada.
⁵ Integrated Program in Neuroscience, McGill University, Montréal, QC H3A 0G4, Canada.
⁶ Research Center of the CIUSSS-NIM, Hôpital du Sacré-Coeur de Montréal, Montreal, QC H4J 1C5, Canada.
⁷ Department of Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, Université de Montréal, Montréal, QC H3T 1J4, Canada.
⁸ Department of Physics, Concordia University, Montréal, QC H4B 1R6, Canada.
⁹ Department of Neurology and Neurosurgery, McGill University, Montréal, QC H3A 1A1, Canada.
¹⁰ Faculté des sciences, Département d'informatique, Université de Sherbrooke, Sherbrooke, QC J1K 2R1, Canada.
¹¹ Normandie Univ, UNICAEN, INSERM, U1237, PhIND "Physiopathology and Imaging of Neurological Disorders", NeuroPresage Team, GIP Cyceron, 14032 Caen, France.
¹² School of Psychological Science, The University of Western Australia, Perth, Western Australia 6009, Australia.
¹³ Department Biomedical Engineering, McGill University, Montréal, QC H3A 2B4, Canada.
¹⁴ Centre ÉPIC, Montreal Heart Institute, Montréal, QC H1T 1N6, Canada.
¹⁵ Faculty of Dental Medicine and Oral Health Sciences, McGill University, Montreal, QC H3A 1G1, Canada.
¹⁶ Department of Anesthesia, Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, McGill University, Montreal, QC H3G 2M1, Canada.
¹⁷ Alan Edwards Center for Research on Pain, McGill University, Montreal, QC H3A 2B4, Canada.
¹⁸ Department of Psychology, Toronto Metropolitan University, Toronto, ON M5S 2E5, Canada.
¹⁹ Clinique interdisciplinaire de mémoire, CHU de Québec affilié à l'Université Laval, Québec, QC G1V 4G2, Canada.
²⁰ Division of Neurology, Department of Medicine, Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, Université de Sherbrooke, Sherbrooke, QC J1H 5H3, Canada.
²¹ AI2D Center for AI and Data Science for Integrated Diagnostics, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA 19104, USA.
²² Psychology Department, Université de Montréal, Montréal, QC H2V 2S9, Canada.
²³ Centre de Recherche de l'Institut Universitaire de Gériatrie de Montréal, Montréal, QC H3W 1W5, Canada.
²⁴ Department of Psychiatry and Neurochemistry, Institute of Neuroscience and Physiology, Sahlgrenska Academy, University of Gothenburg, 431 39 Mölndal, Sweden.
²⁵ Clinical Neurochemistry Lab, Sahlgrenska University Hospital, 43180 Mölndal, Sweden.
²⁶ Paris Brain Institute, ICM, Pitié-Salpêtrière Hospital, Sorbonne University, 75013 Paris, France.
²⁷ Neurodegenerative Disorder Research Center, Division of Life Sciences and Medicine, and Department of Neurology, Institute on Aging and Brain Disorders, University of Science and Technology of China and First Affiliated Hospital of USTC, Hefei, Anhui, 230026 P.R. China.
²⁸ Department of Neurodegenerative Disease, University College London Institute of Neurology, London WC1E 6BT, UK.
²⁹ UK Dementia Research Institute at UCL, London NW1 3BT, UK.
³⁰ Hong Kong Center for Neurodegenerative Diseases, InnoHK, 999077 Hong Kong, China.
³¹ Wisconsin Alzheimer's Disease Research Center, University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI 53792, USA.
³² Department of Physiology and Pharmacology, Université de Montréal, Montréal, QC H3C 3J7, Canada.
³³ Clinical Memory Research Unit, Department of Clinical Sciences Malmö, Lund University, 224 41 Lund, Sweden.

PMID: 40778177
PMCID: PMC12330406
DOI: 10.1101/2025.07.22.25331791

Update in

The PREVENT-AD cohort: Accelerating Alzheimer's disease research and treatment in Canada and beyond.
Villeneuve S, Poirier J, Breitner JCS, Tremblay-Mercier J, Remz J, Raoult JM, Yakoub Y, Gallego-Rudolf J, Qiu T, Fajardo Valdez A, Mohammediyan B, Javanray M, Metz A, Sanami S, Ourry V, Wearn A, Pastor-Bernier A, Edde M, Gonneaud J, Strikwerda-Brown C, Tardif CL, Gauthier CJ, Descoteaux M, Dadar M, Vachon-Presseau É, Baril AA, Ducharme S, Montembeault M, Geddes MR, Soucy JP, Rajah N, Laforce R, Bocti C, Davatzikos C, Bellec L, Rosa-Neto P, Baillet S, Evans AC, Collins DL, Chakravarty MM, Blennow K, Zetterberg H, Spreng RN, Pichet Binette A; PREVENT‐AD Research Group. Villeneuve S, et al. Alzheimers Dement. 2025 Oct;21(10):e70653. doi: 10.1002/alz.70653. Alzheimers Dement. 2025. PMID: 41020412 Free PMC article.

Abstract

The PREVENT-AD is an investigator-driven study that was created in 2011 and enrolled cognitively normal older adults with a family history of sporadic AD. Participants are deeply phenotyped and have now been followed annually for more than 12 years [median follow-up 8.0 years,SD 3.1]. Multimodal MRI, genetic, neurosensory, clinical, cerebrospinal fluid and cognitive data collected until 2017 on 348 participants who agreed to open sharing with the neuroscience community were already available. We now share a new release including 6 years of additional follow-up cognitive data, and additional MRI follow-ups, clinical progression, new longitudinal behavioral and lifestyle measures (questionnaires, actigraphy), longitudinal AD plasma biomarkers, amyloid-beta and tau PET, magnetoencephalography, as well as neuroimaging analytic measures from all MRI modalities. We describe the PREVENT-AD study, the data shared with the global research community as well as the model we created to sustain longitudinal follow-ups while also allowing new innovative data collection.

Keywords: Biomarkers; clinical progression; cognition; data repository; neuroimaging; preclinical.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

CONFLICTS OF INTEREST KB has served as a consultant and at advisory boards for Abbvie, AC Immune, ALZPath, AriBio, Beckman-Coulter, BioArctic, Biogen, Eisai, Lilly, Moleac Pte. Ltd, Neurimmune, Novartis, Ono Pharma, Prothena, Quanterix, Roche Diagnostics, Sanofi and Siemens Healthineers; has served at data monitoring committees for Julius Clinical and Novartis; has given lectures, produced educational materials and participated in educational programs for AC Immune, Biogen, Celdara Medical, Eisai and Roche Diagnostics; and is a co-founder of Brain Biomarker Solutions in Gothenburg AB (BBS), which is a part of the GU Ventures Incubator Program, outside the work presented in this paper. The other authors report no competing interests

Figures

**Figure 1:**
Flow chart of PREVENT-AD parti 1

**Figure 2:. Main data available in the Data Shearing Repository.**
Overview of all modalities available (A). Neuroimaging analytic measures (B). The cognitive assessment includes global and specific neuropsychological tests. Behavioral questionnaires (C). Fluid analytic measures (D). *Abbreviations*: Aβ, Amyloid-beta; PET, positron emission tomography; MEG, magnetoencephalography; CSF, cerebrospinal fluid; MRI, magnetic resonance imaging; PD, proton density; MTsat, magnetization transfer saturation; DTI, diffusion tensor imaging; FA, fractional anisotropy; MD, mean diffusivity; AD, axial diffusivity; RD, radial diffusivity; SUVR, standardized uptake value ratio; p, phosphorylated; NfL, neurofilament light; GFAP, glial fibrillary acidic protein; *APOE*, Apolipoprotein E; PCSK9, proprotein convertase subtilisin/kexin type 9; G-CSF, granulocyte colony stimulating factor; IL, interleukin; VEGF, vascular endothelial growth factor.

**Figure 3:. Main data collected over the years in the PREVENT-AD cohort.**
Overview of the in-person data collected with PREVENT-AD participants at the StoP-AD Centre between 2012 and 2023 (A). The end of Phase 1 is identified by a dotted line. Summary of the baseline and follow-up visits performed on the 387 participants (B). The RBANS data collected between March 2020 and July 2021 were obtained virtually due to the COVID 19 pandemic and are not shared given that all tasks have not been completed, and we could not compute index scores. 2011 is not shown given that only enrolment visits were conducted that year. *Abbreviations:* RBANS, Repeatable Battery for the Assessment of Neuropsychological status; RAVLT, Rey Auditory Verbal Learning Test; TMT, Trail Making Test; MRI, magnetic resonance imaging; PET, positron emission tomography; MEG, magnetoencephalography; CSF, cerebrospinal fluid; EN, enrolment; BL, baseline.

**Figure 4.. Clinical status profiles and progression in the PREVENT-AD cohort**
Percentage of clinical progression (mild cognitive impairment (MCI) or dementia) across Aβ and tau PET biomarker profiles. The first graph is data as reported in Strikwerda-Brown et al (2022), *JAMA Neurology* (left) and the second is after an additional 2.4 years of follow-up (right) (n=128). *Abbreviations*: CU: cognitively unimpaired older adults; MCI: mild cognitive impairment; A+T+: Aβ positive/tau positive; A+T-: Aβ positive/tau negative; A-T+: Aβ negative/tau positive; A-T-: Aβ negative/tau negative

See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

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This is a preprint.

The PREVENT-AD cohort: accelerating Alzheimer's disease research and treatment in Canada and beyond

Affiliations

The PREVENT-AD cohort: accelerating Alzheimer's disease research and treatment in Canada and beyond

Authors

Affiliations

Update in

Abstract

Conflict of interest statement

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References

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