Sanders-Brown Center on Aging

The University of Kentucky Sanders-Brown Center on Aging (SBCoA) basic and clinical scientists work together to improve the health of the older adults in Kentucky and beyond through research dedicated to understanding the aging process and age-related brain diseases, and education, outreach, and clinical programs that promote healthy brain aging.

Over the past three decades, SBCoA has flourished and has emerged as one of the nation's leading centers on aging. Major foci of the Center are basic and applied research in Alzheimer's disease and related neurodegenerative disorders.

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Close up of elderly people holding hands.

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Donna Wilcock, PhD working in laboratory

Alzheimer's Disease Research Center

An integral part of SBCoA is the National Institute on Aging-funded University of Kentucky Alzheimer's Disease Research Center (UK-ADRC). Over the past 30 years, the UK-ADRC has developed a vigorous program in the clinical, neuropathological, educational, and research aspects of Alzheimer's disease that serves as a critical resource for the university, community, state, and nation.

September 2022 — A team of researchers at the University of Kentucky’s Sanders-Brown Center on Aging (SBCoA) is awarded a $20.5 million grant from the National Institute on Aging (NIA) of the National Institutes of Health (NIH) to continue and further research and clinical initiatives geared toward beating Alzheimer’s disease and other forms of dementia. Currently, only 30 designated Alzheimer's Disease Research Centers exist in the U.S. In 1985, SBCoA was among the first 10 ADCs funded by the NIH and has been continuously funded since the designation was launched. 


Down Syndrome Aging and Alzheimer's Disease Study

Another key research area of SBCoA is the Down Syndrome Aging and Alzheimer's Disease Study (UK-DSA).

The goal of this research is to follow people with Down syndrome as they get older. This will help us to understand why and who will develop dementia.

Importantly, if we follow people who do not develop dementia we may be able to learn how to prevent this from occurring in others.

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Downs syndrome patient and caretaker working with beading.