ADMdx is collaborating with several top researchers and institutions to advance diagnostic and therapeutic research efforts, for example:
ADMdx is collaborating with Dr. Tammie Benzinger of Washington University in using multivariate machine learning classification approaches for the prediction of symptom onset and progression in cognitively normal adults who are predisposed to Alzheimer’s disease.
In this work, ADMdx is applying its image classification technologies to structural MRI, FDG PET, and amyloid scans from the DIAN data set, separately and in a multi-modality approach. Goals include the translation of these findings to support diagnosis and prediction of progression in late onset Alzheimer’s Disease, as well as optimal method of detecting treatment response in both early and late onset populations. DIAN is a partnership of leading researchers funded by the National Institute on Aging, initiated in 2008 under the direction of Dr. John Morris of Washington University with the objective of understanding a genetically caused form of Alzheimer’s disease that could help to understand other dementias including late onset Alzheimer’s disease, and to develop treatments for the disease. Dr. Benzinger is imaging core leader of the DIAN study, Associate Professor of Radiology at Washington University School of Medicine, and head of a member lab of the Neuroimaging Laboratory and of the Knight Alzheimer's Disease Research Imaging (KARI) Program. Further information regarding DIAN can be found at http://www.dian-info.org/.
ADMdx is working with Dr. Ana Pereira of Rockefeller University to evaluate the potential of the drug Riluzole to improve neuronal and cognitive function in Alzheimer’s patients.
Riluzole, approved for the treatment of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, regulates glutamate levels synaptically and extrasynaptically, which is critical for neurotransmission, memory formation and neuroprotection. In a study published in March of this year, Dr. Pereira and her colleagues showed that Riluzole can reverse many of the gene expression changes that take place in Alzheimer’s disease (Pereira et al, Mol Psychiatry, 2016). Further, they have shown that treatment of rodents prevented age-related cognitive decline through important neuroplastic changes (Pereira et. al PNAS 2014). ADMdx’s technology is being used to assess changes in neuronal function in regions of the brain known to be affected by Alzheimer’s disease that have potential to be improved through treatment with Riluzole. ADMdx is also providing support for patient inclusion/exclusion by evaluating the scans using its Dementia Differentiation classifier and Alzheimer’s disease progression classifier.
ADMdx has been collaborating with Dr. Michael Rafii of University of California San Diego in the application of pattern recognition to multi-modality image data enabling dissociation of changes caused by Alzheimer’s disease from underlying Down Syndrome.
This work, presented at CTAD 2016 and published in Alzheimer’s & Dementia: Translational Research and Clinical Intervention, included analysis of multiple types of imaging data including FDG PET, structural MRI, amyloid PET, and tau PET, and cognitive measures. Results demonstrate the ability of our technology to detect Alzheimer’s disease and to measure disease-specific longitudinal progression in subjects having comorbid conditions. Relationships between amyloid status, neurodegenerative imaging markers, and cognition were also demonstrated, supporting evaluation of AD targeted therapeutics in enriched populations. Publications include: Rafii M et al, JAD, 2017; and Matthews D et al, AlzDem:TRCI, 2016. Click here to download the AlzDem paper.
ADMdx is collaborating with Dr. Charles Bernick and other researchers at the Cleveland Clinic in the application of pattern recognition to MRI and tau PET image data in Traumatic Brain Injury.
This work focuses on characterizing imaging biomarker changes that are associated with repeated head trauma and cognitive impairment. Through the Professional Fighters Brain Health Study (PFBHS), the Cleveland Clinic has acquired multiple MRI sequences and tau PET data from boxers and mixed martial arts fighters having various degrees of fight exposure and cognitive impairment. Using machine learning, ADMdx has identified patterns of neurodegeneration that are increasingly expressed with fight exposure and with cognitive impairment, distinct from those associated with Alzheimer's disease. Initial results are being presented at AAIC 2018.
ADMdx has worked with Dr. Lisa Mosconi of Weill Cornell Medical College in studying the effects of Mediterranean diet and lifestyle factors on Alzheimer's disease risk.
Dr. Mosconi's work focuses on understand the relationship between adherence to a Mediterranean diet, other lifestyle factors, and the risk of developing Alzheimer's disease. Papers published in Neurology (Pupi et al, Neurology, 2018) and the British Medical Journal (Mosconi et al, BMJ, 2018) have demonstrated relationships between a lack of adherence to a Mediterranean diet, insulin sensitivity, and increases in Alzheimer's disease imaging biomarker abnormalities.
