$12.6 million NIH grant to study genetics of Alzheimer's disease

Researchers from the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania are part of a five-university collaboration receiving a $12.6 million, four-year grant from the National Institute on Aging (NIA), part of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), to identify rare genetic variants that may either protect against, or contribute to Alzheimer's disease risk.

At Penn, the Consortium for Alzheimer's Sequence Analysis (CASA) is led by Gerard D. Schellenberg, PhD, professor of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine. Other Penn investigators are Li-San Wang, PhD, professor of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine; Adam Naj, PhD, senior scholar, Center for Clinical Epidemiology and Biostatistics, and Nancy Zhang, PhD, professor of Statistics, Wharton School.

CASA investigators will analyze whole exome and whole genome sequence data generated during the first phase of the NIH Alzheimer's Disease Sequencing Program, an innovative collaboration that began in 2012 between NIA and the National Human Genome Research Institute (NHGRI), also part of NIH. They will analyze data from 6,000 volunteers with Alzheimer's disease and 5,000 older individuals who did not have the disease. In addition, they will study genomic data from 111 large families with multiple Alzheimer's disease members, mostly of Caucasian and Caribbean Hispanic descent to identify rare genetic variants.

"By identifying additional Alzheimer's-related genes, the CASA team aims to find new therapeutic targets that will reduce the economic and human burden caused by this disease," said Schellenberg. "This is an exciting opportunity to apply new technologies to improve our understanding of the biological pathways underlying this devastating disease."

Alzheimer's disease, a progressive neurodegenerative disorder, has become an epidemic that currently affects as many as five million people age 65 and older in the United States, with economic costs that are comparable to, if not greater than, caring for those of heart disease or cancer. Available drugs only marginally affect disease severity and progression. While there is no way to prevent this disease, the discovery of genetic risk factors for Alzheimer's is bringing researchers closer to learning how the genes work together and may help identify the most effective interventions.

This effort is critical to accomplishing the genetic research goals outlined in the National Plan to Address Alzheimer's Disease, first announced by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services in May 2012 and updated annually. Developed under the National Alzheimer's Project Act, the plan provides a framework for a coordinated and concentrated effort in research, care, and services for Alzheimer's and related dementias. Its primary research goal is to prevent and effectively treat Alzheimer's disease by 2025.

With the current award, CASA joins the NHGRI Large-Scale Sequencing and Analysis Centers program, an NIH-supported consortium that provides large-scale sequence datasets and analysis to the biomedical community. CASA researchers will facilitate the analyses of all Alzheimer's Disease Sequencing Project (ADSP) and additional non-ADSP sequence data to detect protective and risk variants for Alzheimer disease.

"We are delighted to support the important research being accomplished under this broad-based, collaborative effort. A team effort is vital to advancing a deeper understanding of the genetic variants involved in this complex and devastating disease and to the shared goal of finding targets for effective interventions," said NIH Director Francis Collins, MD, PhD.

CASA is a collaboration of Penn and four other American universities. Jonathan Haines, PhD, will lead the project at Case Western Reserve University; Richard Mayeux, MD, at Columbia University; Margaret Pericak-Vance, PhD, at the University of Miami; Gerard D. Schellenberg, PhD, at the University of Pennsylvania; and Lindsay Farrar, PhD, at Boston University.

Provided by University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine