Partners


 

GAAIN seeks to establish trusted partnerships with centers that collect and study data from subjects with Alzheimer’s disease, dementia and aging. Given that the Alzheimer’s disease research community is large, diverse, and rich in resources, our goal is to bring together research leaders and maximize the potential for scientific discovery using existing genetic, imaging, clinical, behavioral and other data.

GAAIN’s success depends upon uniting Alzheimer’s disease and dementia study centers that have decided to participate in the partner program and our goal is to develop a strong platform from which investigators can study these Alzheimer’s disease data in a collaborative and innovative manner.

Benefits


 

GAAIN leaves the control over data access in the hands of the data owner and provided mechanisms for sharing data that have a low cost for the data owner.

GAAIN does not interfere with user authorization or data tracking processes. Data Partners continue to manage who can access their data.

GAAIN gives data owners credit by presenting the partner’s logo and a link to website on all GAAIN interfaces.

GAAIN helps data owners satisfy data sharing requirements set by funding agencies, such as the 2023 NIH Data Management & Sharing Policy. GAAIN is an NIH-supported data sharing resource. Get in touch at info@gaain.org for more information on including GAAIN in funding applications or proposals that require a data sharing plan.

Our Partners


Partners


Anti-Amyloid Treatment in Asymptomatic Alzheimer’s (A4)

The A4 study is a double-blind, placebo-controlled, Phase 3 study designed to test whether an investigational anti-amyloid therapy (solanezumab) can slow the progression of memory problems associated with brain amyloid.

Fundacio ACE: Institut Català de Neurociències Aplicades (F. ACE)

F. ACE is a non-profit organization located in Barcelona. F. ACE was registered and declared a welfare institution by the Government of Catalonia in 1995. The entity was designed by the Neurologist Dr. Mercè Boada, MD PhD and by the Psychologist Lluís Tárraga following the organization, methodology of Alzheimer’s Research Centers funded by the National Institute of Aging/NIH (USA). F. ACE mission is to manage dementia in a multidisciplinary way and it has become a global reference in the treatment and management of dementia. The foundation has executed dozens of competitive research projects since its creation. It has made important contributions in the field of neurodegeneration. Its research is pretty wide from social research to molecular epidemiology, phenomics, genome-wide association studies, biomarker research, neuroimaging or brain training software.

The Alzheimer’s Disease Neuroimaging Initiative (ADNI)

ADNI unites researchers with study data as they work to define the progression of Alzheimer’s disease. ADNI researchers collect, validate and utilize data such as MRI and PET images, genetics, cognitive tests, CSF and blood biomarkers as predictors for the disease. The North American ADNI’s study participants includes data from including Alzheimer’s disease patients, mild cognitive impairment subjects and elderly controls.

ADNI Argentina (ADNI-ARG)

Argentinian ADNI follows a cohort of 56 patients since 2012 with a wide perspective including genetic, clinical, neuropsychological, socio-demographic and biomarker information following worldwide ADNI standards.

Alzheimer’s Genetics in Argentina (AGA-ALZAR-PRONADIAL)

AGA-ALZAR-PRONADIAL is a multisite project developed to identify genes for susceptibility to sporadic Alzheimer’s disease and genes that modify phenotypes related to Alzheimer’s disease.

The Australian Imaging, Biomarker & Lifestyle Flagship Study of Ageing (AIBL)

AIBL is a longitudinal study of over 1,500 people over 60 years of age, assessed repeatedly at 18mo intervals. The aims are to determine which imaging and blood biomarkers, cognitive characteristics, and health and lifestyle factors track progression to symptomatic Alzheimer’s Disease and to identify opportunities and targets for early intervention.

TriBEKa ALFA+

The ALFA+ study led by the Barcelona Beta Brain Research Centre is a longitudinal cohort study of 400 cognitively unimpaired middle age participants undergoing blood and CSF sampling, advanced MRI sequences, amyloid, tau and FDG PET, and cognitive testing.

AMED

The AMED preclinical AD study aims to establish an evaluation method for biomarkers such as images and cerebrospinal fluid for preclinical AD and MCI. Subjects were enrolled from Japanese dementia medical institutions.

Alzheimer's Prevention Initiative Colombia Trial

The API Colombia Trial (NCT01998841) is evaluating > 260 weeks of anti-amyloid antibody crenezumab versus placebo treatment in cognitively unimpaired PSEN1 E280A mutation carriers, and includes placebo-treated non-carriers, from the world's largest ADAD kindred. Baseline clinical and imaging data from 167 unimpaired mutation carriers and 75 non-carriers, ages 30-53, are now available. Additional trial data and biological samples will be available after the trial is completed.

Arizona APOE4 Gene Dose Program

The APOE4 Gene Dose Program is a longitudinal cohort of cognitively unimpaired research participants with two, one and no copies of the APOE4 gene, reflecting three levels of genetic risk for Alzheimer’s disease.

Atherosclerosis Risk in Communities Study (ARIC)

The ARIC study is a prospective epidemiologic study designed to investigate the causes of atherosclerosis and its clinical outcomes, and variations in cardiovascular risk factors, medical care and disease by race, gender, location and date.

Alzheimer's Disease Repository Without Borders

ARWIBO is a cross-sectional dataset including data from more than 2700 patients enrolled in Brescia and nearby areas. The database contains data of healthy elderly Controls (CTR), individual with Mild Cognitive Impairment (MCI), and patients with Alzheimer's disease (AD). Images are both structural images weighted in T1 and T2 (at 1.0T or 1.5T) as well as PET scans. All data are de-identified.

BEDM

The goal of the Brown-Edinburgh Diffusion MRI (BEDM) study is to examine brain changes with age and to provide a comparison group for future studies. BEDM includes neuroimaging data of 80 cognitively normal subjects with demographic data and neuropsychological measures.

Biomarkers of Cognitive Decline Among Normal Individuals (BIOCARD)

The BIOCARD Study is supported by a grant jointly funded by the National Institute on Aging (NIA) and the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH). It is an extension of the Family Study/BIOCARD Study begun at NIMH in 1995. The overarching goal of the BIOCARD Study is to identify biomarkers associated with progression from normal cognitive status to cognitive impairment or dementia, with a particular focus on Alzheimer’s Disease. The domains of information collected as part of the study in the past include: cognitive testing, magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), cerebrospinal fluid (CSF), amyloid imaging (using PET-PiB), and blood specimens. Investigators at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine began evaluating participants in 2009. The subjects are seen annually. At each visit there are assessments of medical and cognitive status, as well acquisition of MRI, CSF, PET-PiB, and blood.

Comprehensive Assessment of Long-Term Effects of Reducing Intake of Energy (CALERIE)

The CALERIE clinical trial is a randomized control trial that evaluated the effects of two years of sustained caloric restriction in participants aged 20 to 50.

Czech Brain Aging Study

CBAS is a prospective longitudinal, multi-center,memory clinic-based study recruiting non-demented older adults (>55 years) with cognitive complaints.The purpose of CBAS is to study potential early biomarkers, risk and protective factors of MCI and dementia in the Czech population. CBAS consists of two sites (in Prague and Brno cities in the Czech Republic) that are synchronized in the neuropsychological battery, multimodality MRI and PET imaging, genetic testing, blood tests and CSF analysis

CIEN

The Vallecas Project from Fundación CIEN is a population-based study that aims at elucidating, through tracking of progression, the best combination of clinical and cognitive parameters, as well as complementary tests, that allow distinguishing at medium- and long-term those individuals who will develop future cognitive impairment.

Canberra Longitudinal Study

The Canberra Longitudinal Study is a 12 year study into the health and memory of older people which commenced in 1990, with subsequent waves in 1994, 1998 and 2002. The 2002 wave was the last time that participants were approached for interviews - the youngest participant in 2002 was 82 years of age!

Canadian Longitudinal Study on Aging (CLSA)

The CLSA is a 20-year prospective study recruiting a sample of 50,000 men and women between the ages of 45 and 85 years at baseline. All participants provide a common set of information on demographic, social, physical, clinical, psychological, economic, and health service utilization aspects relevant to health and aging. Thirty thousand participants provide additional information through physical examinations and the collection of biospecimens (blood and urine samples). The remaining 20,000 provide information through telephone interviews.

Coalition Against Major Diseases

The Coalition Against Major Diseases (CAMD; http://c-path.org/programs/camd/) CODR database contains patient-level control arm data (6,500 patients; 24 clinical trials; AD & MCI), fully anonymized and remapped using the CDISC SDTM v3.1.2 Standard. The database includes, but is not limited to, demographic information, APOE4 genotype, concomitant medications and cognitive scales (MMSE & ADAS-Cog). Currently no AD biomarker data is included. SDTM knowledge is required to effectively use the data.

Dementia and Aging Research of Taiwan (DART)

DART at National Taiwan University (NTU) is a multi-center case-control study in Taipei, Taiwan. A total of 938 participants aged 60 or older [n=292 Alzheimer’s disease (AD), n= 143 small-vessel vascular dementia (VaD), and n=503 healthy controls] were recruited from three teaching hospitals between 2007 and 2011. This study has genome-wide (using DNA microarray chips for Chinese ethnic group) and candidate-gene data (including APOE e4 status and 39 SNPs of 12 genes), information of demography, comorbidities, and leisure activities.

DBIS

The Dunedin Brain Imaging Study (DBIS) seeks to better understand what factors shape healthy and unhealthy aging of the brain. Neuroimaging data were collected from 875 members of the Dunedin Study in New Zealand.

DCL PARLA

SYNOPSIS: In the DCL Parla project we collected all those patients with mild cognitive impairment, and in the follow Up the diagnosis of dementia, the type of dementia, structural / functional neuroimaging data and Blood samples of these patients.
DATA: MCI according PETERSEN criteria. We collected data about demographic aspects, the delay in the diagnosis, analytic data, progression and type of dementia, structural neuroimaging, functional neuroimaging.

Development of screeing guidelines and criteria for predementia Alzheimer's disease

The DESCRIPA study aimed to develop screening guidelines and clinical criteria for Alzheimer's disease in non-demented subjects. 25 centres from 11 European countries participated. The project started 1 January 2003 and ended 1 July 2007. In total 881 subjects were included with baseline and follow-up data on demographics, medication use, comorbidity, neuropsychological tests and rating scales. A subset also have data available on MRI markers and CSF markers.

Dominantly Inherited Alzheimer Network Trials Unit

The DIAN-TU has launched the world's first prevention trial for at-risk families with DIAD. This interventional therapeutic trial focuses on drugs that could potentially change the course of the disease. It evaluates the safety, tolerability and effectiveness of these drugs and will determine if they can prevent, delay, or possibly even reverse Alzheimer's disease changes in the brain.

European Diffusion Tensor Imaging Study in Dementia (EDSD)

The EDSD data bank includes 467 Diffusion Tensor Imaging (DTI) and 467 structural MRI scans (MPRAGE) from patients with AD, MCI and Healthy Elderly Subjects. The EDSD is a cross-sectional multicenter study and it was approved by local ethics committees at each of the participating centers, i.e. (i) the ethics committee of the medical faculty of the Ludwig-Maximilian-University, Munich, (ii) the ethics committee of the IRCCS San Giovanni di Dio FBF, Brescia, (iii) the Faculty Research Ethics Committee, Faculty of Health Sciences, Trinity College Dublin, (iv) the ethics committee at the Landesärztekammer Rheinland-Pfalz, Mainz, (v) the ethics committee of San Raffaele Hospital, Milan, (vi) the ethics committee of the faculty of medicine of the Goethe University, Frankfurt, (vii) the ethics committee of the University Medical Center, Freiburg, and (viii) the ethics committee of the medical faculty of the University of Rostock.

The database of patients consulting the memory center of the University hospital HUG in Geneva Switzerland

The Epinettes database is the collection of clinical and neuropsychological data, acquired during routine care of patients consulting at the Memory Centre of the University Hospital of Geneva in Switzerland. The database comprises different diagnosis groups, hence allows observational study. It is a transversal data set, as it aims to compare the groups, as well as a longitudinal, as it aims to analyse the progression of each type of dementia.

The Framingham Heart Study (FHS)

FHS initiated in 1948 and is a large epidemiologic study originally focused on determining risk factors for heart disease and stroke. Since 1976, Framingham has extended its research to include the study of Alzheimer’s disease (AD) and other types of dementia.

French National Alzheimer’s Database (BNA)

BNA is part of the French National Plan 2008–2012 for Alzheimer’s disease and related disorders. Activity and epidemiological follow up data are recorded nationwide within specialized memory centres. The national network currently includes 400 “memory units” (CMs Consultation Memoire) and 28 “Memory Resources and Research Centres” (CMRRs Centres Memoire, de Ressources et de Recherche) and volunteer private specialists (neurologists, geriatricians and psychiatrists). The BNA aims to provide epidemiological data as well as activity indicators. The information collected in the BNA consists of a limited set of data concerning demographic, diagnostic and clinical details defined by national consensus. The number of variables is restricted to facilitate and enhance the participation in this national database.

GERAS

The GERAS Study-US was a prospective, multicenter, observational study that aimed to assess societal costs and resource use associated with AD among patients and their primary caregivers across 76 sites in the United States.

HABS-HD

The HABS-HD project seeks to understand the biological, social and environmental factors that impact brain aging among diverse communities. HABS-HD has enrolled over 1,000 Hispanic Americans, over 1,000 non-Hispanic Whites and nearly 1,000 African Americans ages 30 and over.

Hillblom Aging Program (HAP)

The HAP study is a longitudinal cohort of cognitively normal and MCI subjects from the San Francisco Bay Area, with basic phenotyping that includes neurologic exams, cognitive testing, informant report and lifestyle questionnaires.

Hellenic Longitudinal Investigation of Aging and Diet (HELIAD)

HELIAD is a population-based, multidisciplinary, collaborative study designed to estimate the prevalence and incidence of Alzheimer’s disease, other dementias, mild cognitive impairment, and other neuropsychiatric conditions of aging in the Greek population and to investigate associations between nutrition and cognitive dysfunction/age-related neuropsychiatric diseases in this Mediterranean population. The study also ascertains several demographic, medical, social, environmental, clinical, nutritional, and neuropsychological determinants and lifestyle activities.

Health and Retirement Study

The University of Michigan Health and Retirement Study (HRS) is a longitudinal panel study that surveys a representative sample of approximately 20,000 people in America over the age of 50 every two years.

Italian Alzheimer’s Disease Neuroimaging Initiative (I-ADNI)

I-ADNI is a cross sectional study and consists of 262 patients with subjective memory impairment, mild cognitive impairment, Alzheimer's dementia, and frontotemporal dementia enrolled in 7 Italian centers. Few cognitively healthy elderly controls were also included. MRI site qualification and MP-RAGE quality assessment was applied following the NA-ADNI procedures.

Indianapolis Ibadan Dementia Project

The Indianapolis-Ibadan Dementia Project, established in 1991 was a longitudinal prospective population based comparative epidemiological study of the prevalence, incidence rates and risk factors for Alzheimer Disease and other dementias. It was continuously funded by the US National Institute of Aging until 2012. The project enrolled community dwelling elderly (age < 65 yrs) African Americans living in Indianapolis and Yoruba living in Nigeria employing the same research design, and methods.

Integrated Neurodegenerative Disease Database

Penn INDD is a integrated neurodegenerative disease database developed at UPENN with the help of a consortium of Penn investigators working collaboratively on AD, PD, FTD and ALS.

INSIGHT46

Insight46 is an observational longitudinal sub-study of the Medical Research Council National Survey of Health and Development (NSHD; also known as the British 1946 Birth Cohort) which comprises 5362 individuals born in England, Scotland, and Wales in one week in March 1946.

Japanese Alzheimer's Disease Neuroimaging Initiative

Japanese ADNI aims to establish imaging and biofluid markers that can predict and monitor the progression of changes in the brains of elderly participants with AD, mild cognitive impairment (MCI) or normal cognition, and eventually be used as a surrogate markers for the clinical trials of disease modifying drugs for AD. 3 year longitudinal data for 149 cognitively normal participants and 234 participants with MCI and 2 year longitudinal data for 154 participants with AD are available.

The Kame Project

The Kame Project is one of three independently funded studies that sought to examine rates and risk factors for dementia and its subtypes among Japanese populations in Japan (Adult Health Study, Hiroshima), Hawaii (Honolulu-Asia Aging Study) and Seattle, WA (The Kame Project) as these populations migrated from Japan to the mainland U.S. The Kame Project enrolled 90% of the Japanese American population in Seattle-King County age 65 and over in 1992-1994 (prevalence period).

The Korean Brain Aging Study for the Early Diagnosis and Prediction of Alzheimer's disease

The Korean Brain Aging Study for the Early Diagnosis and Prediction of Alzheimer's disease (KBASE) is an ongoing prospective observational cohort study that began in 2014, which aimed to develop new biomarkers, particularly blood biomarkers, for the early detection of AD processes or pathologies. Total of 650 individuals were recruited from the community as well as from hospitals and clinics in Seoul, South Korea.

Korean Longitudinal Study on Cognitive Aging and Dementia

Korean Longitudinal Study on Cognitive Aging and Dementia (KLoSCAD) is a nationwide, community-based prospective cohort study to provide a foundation for developing clinical guidelines and government policy to manage dementia in Korean elderlies. Researchers of this study examine data longitudinally on magnetic resonance imaging, neuropsychological tests, blood biomarkers, and lifestyle factors to investigate which measures can be used as predictors of the disease.

Layton Aging and Alzheimer’s Disease Center (LAADC)

The LAADC promotes interactive, multidisciplinary research among the scientific community. Our primary emphasis is on studies of preclinical dementia, as well as early dementia. Well-characterized patients, clinical, MRI, genetic and family history data, as well as tissues and biological specimens are made available to investigators and research groups worldwide.

Long Beach Longitudinal Study

The goal of the project is to identify psychometric correlates of cognitive change in healthy adults as they age. Participants are adults aged 28-103 with up to 5 data points extending to approximately 3 year retests over 15 years. Long Beach and Orange County, California

Laboratory of Magnetic Resonance Research

The Biomedical Imaging Core and the Laboratory of Magnetic Resonance Research support research projects that utilize imaging modalities in human and animals. The team uses MRI for the studies of neurodegenerative diseases, including Alzheimer's Disease and Parkinson's Disease. Since 2008, functional images such as diffusion MRI, susceptibility weighted images and resting state fMRI have been acquired. In dementia studies, more than 200 subjects have been followed longitudinally.

Laboratory of Neuro Imaging (LONI)

The LONI datacenter at the Institute for Neuroimaging and Informatics (INI) is secured by two levels of physical access, to insure HIPAA compliance for data security. The main facility is secured 24/7 with access control devices. with a second layer of proximity card access to the datacenter itself. The high performance compute infrastructure within the datacenter boasts 3,328 cores and 26 terabytes of aggregate memory space. Institutions and scientists worldwide rely on the LONI’s resources to conduct research. LONI is architected using a fault-tolerant, high-availability systems design to ensure 24/7 functionality. The primary storage cluster is 23 Isilon nodes with 2.4 usable petabytes of highly available, high performance storage. Data in these clusters moves exclusively over 10g links excepting node to node communication in the Isilon cluster which is handled by QDR Infiniband, providing 40 gigabit bidirectional throughput on each of the Isilon cluster’s 46 links.

MARS

Malaysia Ageing and Retirement Survey (MARS) is a major research undertaking by the Social Wellbeing Research Centre (SWRC) to produce nationwide longitudinal micro-level data relating to ageing and retirement involving personal interviews of individuals aged 40 years and older in Malaysia.

Sydney Memory & Ageing Study

The Sydney Memory and Ageing Study was established in 2005 to investigate the clinical characteristics of MCI and to determine age-related change in cognitive function. Participants were non-demented at baseline and annual assessments are ongoing. Longitudinal data is collected using neuropsychological tests, medical assessments, blood samples (clinical chemistry, inflammatory markers, GWAS), MRI, and self-report data (medical history, mood, diet, exercise, social contact and other variables).

MCSA

The Mayo Clinic Study of Aging is a longitudinal, population-based study of residents of Olmsted County, Minnesota.

National Alzheimer’s Coordinating Center (NACC)

NACC, established in 1999, maintains a cumulative database including clinical evaluations, neuropathology data when available, and now MRI imaging. The data, contributed by the 34 past and present Alzheimer’s Disease Centers (ADCs) supported by the U.S. National Institute on Aging/NIH, are collected from all enrolled subjects using a standardized evaluation. The clinic-based population includes subjects with Alzheimer’s disease and related disorders, as well as cognitively normal subjects and those with MCI. Because of its size, breadth, and range of diagnoses, the NACC database is an important resource for generating and evaluating hypotheses, examining rare disease subtypes, and observing clinical-pathologic correlations. With the recent introduction of MRIs to the NACC database, studies of neuroimaging correlates of cognition are now possible as well. No Alzheimer’s disease database of this magnitude has ever been assembled in the U.S. NACC invites researchers in the AD community to take advantage of this valuable resource.

National Cell Repository for Alzheimer’s Disease (NCRAD)

NCRAD is a national resource where clinical information and biological material (such as DNA, plasma, serum, RNA, CSF, cell lines, and brain tissue) can be stored and requested from individuals with AD and related dementias as well as from individuals without any symptoms of memory loss or dementia. To help identify the genes contributing to the risk for AD, a number of different studies are currently ongoing. These include studies enrolling families with multiple members diagnosed with AD, as well as individuals without a strong family history of AD.

The National Institute on Aging Genetics of Alzheimer’s Disease Data Storage Site (NIAGADS)

NIAGADS is a national genetics data repository that facilitates access of genotypic data to qualified investigators for the study of the genetics of late-onset Alzheimer’s disease. It is the policy of the NIA that all genetic data derived from NIA-funded studies for the genetics of late-onset Alzheimer’s disease be deposited at NIAGADS, another NIA-approved site, or both. NIAGADS, along with other NIA-approved sites, will make these Genetic Data and Associated Phenotypic Data available to qualified investigators in the scientific community for secondary analysis.

NuAge

The Database and Biobank of the Quebec Longitudinal Study on Nutrition and Successful Aging (NuAge) provides data and biological samples to the scientific community to characterize the heterogeneity of trajectories of aging as well as the multiple underlying factors, in particular nutritional factors, with the aim to improve the overall health and quality of life of older adults.

Open Access Series of Imaging Studies (OASIS)

OASIS consists of (I) a cross-sectional collection of 416 subjects aged 18 to 96. 100 of the included subjects over the age of 60 have been clinically diagnosed with very mild to moderate Alzheimer's disease (AD). (II) A longitudinal collection of 150 subjects aged 60 to 96. Each subject was scanned on two or more visits, separated by at least one year for a total of 373 imaging sessions. For each subject, 3 or 4 individual T1-weighted MRI scans obtained in single scan sessions are included. The subjects are all right-handed and include both men and women. 72 subjects were non demented, 64 were demented, including 51 individuals with mild to moderate Alzheimer's disease.

European Alzheimer's Disease Neuroimaging Initiative

E-ADNI, alias PharmaCog, is a partnership of 32 academic and industry actors from 7 countries, co-ordinated by GlaxoSmithKline R&D and the Université de la Méditerranée. It started its activities on January 1, 2010 thanks to significant funding (EUR 20.2 million) from the Innovative Medicines Initiative. Its launch marks the start of the most ambitious European project for tackling bottlenecks in Alzheimer's disease research and drug discovery.

TriBEKa PREVENT Dementia Programme

The TriBEKa PREVENT dementia programme is a multi-site project with data collection sites located across the United Kingdom and Ireland. Led by the University of Edinburgh, TriBEKa PREVENT is a longitudinal cohort study aiming to identify risk factors for dementia in mid-life.

Study of Dementia in Swedish Twins

Goal of Project: The Study of Dementia in Swedish Twins was designed to study relative effects of genetic and environmental factors for Alzheimer's disease and related dementias and to evaluate specific risk and protective factors. Type of subjects: 1978 individuals born in 1935 or earlier (781 complete twin pairs, 416 surviving singletons). Type of data: clinical diagnoses; medical risk factors, exposures related to occupation, education, and leisure activities; twin pairs' zygosity

TARCC

The Texas Alzheimer’s Research and Care Consortium (TARCC) is a large, standardized and well-curated database that includes AD, MCI, and cognitively normal subjects. Of the 3670 subjects, 36% are of Hispanic ethnicity.

Taiwan Initiative for Geriatric Epidemiological Research (TIGER)

The TIGER study is a prospective cohort study in Taipei, Taiwan, with a total of 605 non-demented participants aged 65 or older. More than half of the participants have MRI and APOE genotyping data at baseline.

TOMM

The Takeda TOMMORROW trial (NCT01931566) investigated a genetic-based biomarker risk assignment algorithm (BRAA) and evaluated the safety and efficacy of investigational drug pioglitazone 0.8 mg SR in delaying the onset of Mild Cognitive Impairment (MCI) due to AD in cognitively normal individuals projected to be at high risk, as determined by the BRAA.

Vienna Transdanube Aging Study

VITA is a population based cohort-study of all 75-years old inhabitants of a geographically defined area of Vienna. VITA is composed of 606 subjects followed longitudinally for 4 years. Recruitment took place between May 2000 and October 2002. The primary focus of the VITA work group was to establish a prospective age cohort for evaluation of prognostic criteria for the development of AD.

Wisconsin Longitudinal Study (WLS)

WLS has followed the life course of 10,317 Wisconsin high school graduates of 1957 and randomly selected siblings through repeated surveys (in 1964, 1975, 1993-94, 2004-06, and 2010-11) and links to such data resources as high school records and yearbooks and tax, disability, social security, Medicare, and death records. WLS has thus created a detailed record of educational, social, psychological, economic and mental and physical health characteristics in a relatively homogeneous population that is almost entirely of Northern and Western European ancestry, thus strengthening the power of genetic studies against population stratification. In 2007-8, the project collected DNA samples by mail and additional samples were collected in the course of home interviews between March 2010 and November of 2012. Since 1991, the WLS has been supported by the National Institute on Aging (AG-9775, AG-21079, AG-033285, and AG-041868).

White Matter Hyperintensities in Alzheimer's Disease

WMH-AD is interested in white matter hyperintensities (WMH) and, at least 50% of patients with AD, have been documented with this pathological change. White matter provides anatomic connections among brain regions and severe WMHs burden may contribute to cognitive impairment. WMH-AD is composed by 92 subjects (30 men and 62 women) followed cross-sectionally. The patients underwent to the following imaging scans: T13D, FLAIR, and DTI (61 gradient directions) at 3.0 Tesla.

Wisconsin Registry for Alzheimers Prevention (WRAP)

WRAP at the University of Wisconsin Madison is a natural history observational study comprised of adult children (72%) of persons with sporadic AD and matched people without parental history of AD. The major goals of WRAP are to understand the earliest cognitive changes that occur and risk and resilience characteristics. The study started in 2001 and enrolled 1542 people over 12 years. The mean age at baseline was 53 and there is now an average of 8 years of follow up. The second assessment is four years after baseline, and subsequent visits are every two years. Assessments include a neuropsychological battery, certain labs, and extensive lifestyle questionnaires ranging from health history, physical activity, caregiver and other stress, social support, sleep quality, and mood. DNA from blood is collected at each visit. SNPs from the major AD-risk genes have been obtained. Blood specimens including plasma and whole blood are collected and stored. A subset of the cohort enrolled in one or more linked biomarker studies including amyloid PET imaging, FDG PET, MRI and LP for CSF.


Supported Data Initiatives


 

In multicenter collaboration, there is strong need for a common understanding for specimen/data collection, biomarker assays, data analysis and the reporting of results. These efforts aim to tackle important issues to help investigators work together. GAAIN supports initiatives that promote data sharing and standardization within the Alzheimer’s disease and dementia research community around the globe.

Centiloid Project

CenTauR Project

Biomarker QC Program

Become a Partner


Frequently Asked Questions for Partners

What are the requirements to become a partner?

Data Partners have collected data on subjects with Alzheimer’s disease or related dementias and are interested in accelerating research on the causes, diagnosis, treatment, and prevention of Alzheimer’s disease. To start the process, you will need to fill out the GAAIN Partner Application and agree to the terms in the non-legally binding Memorandum of Understanding (MOU).

Once I agree to become a partner, what are the next steps?

We will contact you and work with you to connect your data to the GAAIN network. This will involve mapping your data into the GAAIN schema and installing a small, lightweight client application on your computer. We will guide you through each step and offer technical support.

Do partners lose ownership of their data?

No. You always retain ownership of your data and can detach your data from the GAAIN network at any time.

Will my data stay secure?

The GAAIN network is secured from unauthorized access using industry standard secure transmission protocols. GAAIN investigators must abide by the user authentication and data use policies as stipulated by each partner.

Does the partners program include a publications policy?

GAAIN investigators must cite partners and their funding sources in all publications that use their data. Partners will also receive recognition on the GAAIN website and in any GAAIN-related presentations.

What if I can no longer participate in the partner program?

If, for whatever reason, you can no longer participate in the GAAIN Partner Program, let us know in writing 60 days prior to terminating your partnership. There is no obligation to continue and you always have full control of your data.

Ready to become a Partner?

Complete the GAAIN Partner Application online below or Download the PDF and email the completed document to info@gaain.org.
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