Data / Sample Request
Biospecimen Request
Investigators are also encouraged to review the data available at the National Alzheimer Coordinating Center (NACC) and to consider using the NACC database either as a supporting resource or as the central focus of proposed projects.
The UK-ADRC presently shares data (de-identified) with the NIA national database (NACC) and independent qualified investigators within and outside the UK-ADRC.
The UK-ADRC shares research resources with NACC, NACC collaborative initiatives, ADNI, other ADRCs, qualified investigators at the University of Kentucky, and any qualified investigators in the general scientific community.
Investigators must agree to acknowledge NIA funding (P30 AG072946) and to submit accepted manuscripts to PubMed Central.
Confidentiality of UK-ADRC subjects is carefully protected.
Biospecimens Request
Requests for data, specimens, or use of established subject cohorts are made to the UK-ADRC Executive Committee by contacting the core leaders listed below. After working with an ADRC Core Leader, investigators who are interested in using ADRC resources should submit a written request for review by the Executive Committee.
Database Request
A wealth of information is available on our longitudinal cohort. For example, our centralized database consists of clinical data on 4,765 subjects. This includes 1,000 subjects enrolled as cognitively intact at entry having 7,009 person years of follow-up and of these 266 have come to autopsy after 2,321 person years of follow-up. This is a critical resource for investigators who request snapshots of the centralized database.
Data Request
Data Management and Statistical (DMS) serves as a data collection and analytic hub for the UK-ADRC. Since its inception in 1990, this core has created and maintained a large centralized database to facilitate efficient, accurate, and timely management of UK-ADRC data.
Please note that all UK ADRC data collected as part of the National Alzheimer's Coordinating Center (NACC) Uniform Dat Set as well as the NACC Neuropathology Data Set are available for request through NACC. The National Alzheimer’s Coordinating Center (NACC) serves as the centralized data repository, collaboration, and communication hub for the National Institute on Aging’s (NIA) Alzheimer’s Disease Research Centers (ADRC) Program. Established in 1999, NACC has partnered with over 42 ADRCs across the United States to build one of the world’s largest and most comprehensive datasets on Alzheimer’s disease and related dementias (AD/ADRD). This effort has been pivotal in advancing research and understanding of Alzheimer’s disease, fostering collaboration, and driving innovation in data collection and sharing. NACC provides a valuable resource for both exploratory and explanatory Alzheimer's disease research. NACC data are freely available to all researchers. To find out more, visit https://www.naccdata.org/data-request-process/
University of Kentucky Alzheimer's Disease Center Tissue Bank
Peter Nelson, MD, PhD
800 S. Limestone Street
Lexington KY 40536-0230
(859) 323-2866 (fax)
The UK-ADRC Tissue Bank comprises anonymized brain tissue, blood, and cerebrospinal fluid from patients followed in clinic. Post-mortem interval on frozen brain tissue is often less than 4 hours and all patients have cutting-edge clinical diagnoses in consultation with neurologists, neuropathologists, neuropsychologists, and other staff members in the ADRC clinic. All our actions are guided by the principle of deep respect for our patients and the desire to better treat the diseases that afflict them. We operate under detailed guidelines that conform to the National Institute on Aging/National Institutes of Health "Biospecimen Best Practice Guidelines for Alzheimer's Disease Centers."
Consistent with these guidelines, investigators requesting tissue from the core will be asked for the following:
- Signed IRB approval document
- Letter of agreement for transfer of material
- funding source and period of grant support
- FEDEX or other shipping account number
- Project Title and brief abstract about basis for tissue request
- Other pertinent details (type of tissue, method of preparation, types, and numbers of clinical diagnoses preferred)
Statistical and Research Study Design Consultation
Erin Abner, PhD
800 S. Limestone
Lexington KY 40536
The DMS offers regular consulting on experimental design, data analysis, and statistical power considerations to all investigators affiliated with the UK-ADRC. This Core is integrated into the UK-ADRC by providing a link among its data, modern analytic methodology, and the science practiced by UK-ADRC and affiliated investigators who represent a wide variety of disciplines conducting dementia research.
For consultation specific to projects involving genetics or omics data, please reach out to David Fardo, PhD at 859-218-2070 or david.fardo@uky.edu.
Clinical Study Resources and Community Registry Database
Gregory Jicha, MD, PhD
The Clinical Core of the UK Alzheimer’s Disease Research Center at the Sanders-Brown Center on Aging can help you pull together the clinical research infrastructure you may need in order to move your research forward.
We can help with:
- First in human clinical trials through all FDA trial phases
- FDA IND/IDE success
- NIH grant expertise needed for success
- Pharma interactions
- IRB approvals in record time
- International drug importation
- State-of-the-art imaging & biofluid analyses
- DSMB expertise & guidance
- Recruitment specialists and assistance
- Study coordinators for optimal conduct
- State-of-the-art imaging acquisition
- Specialized collection of biofluids and tissue
- Expertise in study close out to meet regulatory needs
Submit a Service Request
Investigators seeking such resources should submit a data request form, which will be reviewed by the Sanders-Brown Center on Aging Clinical Core.
Neuroimaging Summary Measure Request
Brian Gold, PhD
The Neuroimaging component of the Biomarker Core offers access to summary MRI results from many UK-ADRC participants. The MRI summary results currently available are: volumes of over 30 brain regions of interest (ROIs; including whole brain, lobar, and specific cortical and subcortical structures), cerebral blood flow values in the same ROIs, brain iron concentration values in the same ROIs, diffusion metrics in over 30 white matter tract ROIs, and white matter hyperintensity values in whole brain, lobar, deep and periventricular ROIs.
The Neuroimaging leadership provides consulting to Investigators related to MRI results and guidance in selecting ROIs which may be of most relevance to a specific question being studied. Consultation also includes guidance about selection of results from studies using the same scanners, head coils and sequences.
Qualified investigators should submit a data request form, which will be reviewed by the UK-ADRC Executive Committee.
To Collaborate
To discuss collaboration, please contact the center director, Linda J. Van Eldik, PhD at 859-323-6040.