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The Florida Atlantic Stiles-Nicholson Brain Institute is part of a new pilot program aimed at funding interdisciplinary research of Alzheimer’s disease and related dementias.

The collaborative effort, called the “New Horizons in Alzheimer’s Disease and Related Dementias (ADRD),” has three initial awards which examine the impact of hereditary Alzheimer’s mutations, early diagnosis and discovery of Alzheimer’s risks, and determine potential use of noninvasive methods for diagnosis.

In late 2022, a one-day symposium for ADRD researchers, led to this universitywide effort. Here’s a look at the pilot awards.

• Contribution of HTRA1 and MT5-MMP to the Impact of Hereditary Alzheimer’s Disease Mutations ($37,500) to two Brain Institute members, Hongjie Wang, Ph.D., assistant research professor, Florida Atlantic Charles E. Schmidt College of Science, and member of Florida Atlantic’s Institute for Human Health and Disease Intervention; and Ning Quan, Ph.D., professor, Schmidt College of Medicine.
  
  Results will help understand the role of HTRA1 in Alzheimer’s pathology and provide preliminary answers for its role in disease-associated oligodendrocytes function.
• Early Prediction of ADRD on Preclinical Assessment Data Using Machine Learning Tools ($37,500) to María de los Ángeles Ortega, DNP, APRN, associate dean, professor and director, Louis and Anne Green Memory and Wellness Center, Florida Atlantic Christine E. Lynn College of Nursing; Elan Barenholtz, Ph.D., associate professor, College of Science, and associate director of the Florida Atlantic Center for Future Mind; and Safiya George, Ph.D., dean; David Newman, Ph.D., associate professor; and Debarshi Datta, Ph.D., senior research fellow, all of the College of Nursing; and Subhosit Ray, doctoral student, College of Science.
  
  The study assesses effective clinical management for patients with ADRD, including early diagnosis, delay in the onset and slow progression.