History and Overall Mission
A formal program in research and clinical care in Alzheimer's disease (AD) and related dementias began at UCLA in 1990, with the Alzheimer Research Program. The Alzheimer Disease Research Center (ADRC) at the University was established in 1998 by a grant from the National Institute on Aging (NIA), as a mechanism for integrating, coordinating and supporting new and on-going research by established investigators in Alzheimer's disease and aging. The ADRC is an umbrella structure coordinating AD-related research activities within the University community and is a core source of support (e.g., resources, patients, tissue, expert consultation for research, clinical and training activities) in the greater Los Angeles region. The ADRC has been involved in numerous studies of experimental drugs for treatment of Alzheimer's disease.

Clinical Services
The Memory Disorders Clinic (MDC) of the ADRC is an evaluation and treatment clinic for individuals over the age of 65 who are experiencing memory impairment. The clinical staff is committed to establishing accurate diagnoses through an interdisciplinary approach and functions in a consultation role for patients referred to the clinic. This team approach includes evaluations in neurology, psychiatry, and neuropsychology. After diagnosis, complete reports are sent to the referral sources, and appropriate patients are followed longitudinally. Counseling and recommendations are provided to patients and caregivers regarding availability of community resources, legal and financial planning and supportive services.

The MDC staff includes a neurologist, psychiatrist, clinical coordinator (nurse practitioner), physician assistants, social workers, neuropsychology technicians and a supervising neuropsychologist. Over 200 new patient evaluations are conducted each year, and 500 patients are seen annually for re-evaluation. The Clinical Director has over 8 years of experience in clinical assessment of dementia and biochemical and drug therapy trials in AD. The Center has participated in several multi-center clinical drug trials to evaluate the efficacy and safety of new medications, and the Clinic is equipped to process blood for pharmacokinetics testing or shipment to central laboratories. In addition, the ADRC participates in two NIA-funded collaborative studies: the Consortium to Establish a Patient Registry for AD (CERAD) and the Alzheimer's Disease Cooperative Study Units (ADCSU), a national consortium for the study of new drugs for Alzheimer's disease.

Minority Outreach
The ADRC has a community outreach and satellite program at Drew Medical Center located in the medically-underserved African American community in South Central Los Angeles, and the Supulveda VA in the north Sanfernado Valley. The mission of the ADRC is to increase the awareness of Alzheimer's disease in the African American and Hispanic communities. The ADRC offers clinical evaluations and diagnosis of memory problems and works closely with individuals needing support, counseling, information and referral. Patients from the these centers who meet entry criteria are enrolled in the ADRC patient registry.

Research
The ADRC initially developed a strong behavioral neurology base and focused on issues of diagnosis and pathophysiology of AD. A carefully-defined cohort of patients with AD or a related dementia and normal elderly controls were recruited and have been followed longitudinally in order to characterize the natural history of AD from a number of perspectives. Research on the cognitive abnormalities associated with AD focused on behavioral symptoms and attention deficits, dysexecutive and amnesic syndromes, and language and communication skills in normal aged and AD patients.

Studies have expanded to the neurobiology of AD, with specific reference to understanding the cellular, metabolic and molecular changes that could mediate the pathological, physiological and clinical abnormalities. Additional studies focus on the clinical syndrome of AD with specific reference to its varied clinical presentation and use of neuroimaging in diagnosis.

The most recent additions to the research portfolio emphasize neuropsychiatry and neuropsychology, molecular genetics and epidemiology, basic neuroscience, and structural and functional imaging. Basic science studies include: investigations of neuroanatomical measures in AD cortex, mechanisms of genetic predisposition to AD ("risk" genes) and studies of relationships of amyloid and other pathological markers of the disease. Specific clinical research involves: neuroimaging as an aid to diagnosis and in defining neurotransmitter changes, assessment and treatment of depression in dementia, neuropsychiatric symptoms in dementia, and use of genetic screening in predicting dementia. The Center actively collaborates with and supports several epidemiological studies. In addition, numerous studies with new medications to treat dementia are ongoing.

For more information on the Alzheimers Disease Research Center click here.

· Affinity Group Summary
· Affinity Group Participants
· How to Join