Butler Hospital, Brown University Launch Study Aimed at Developing Methods for Early, Accurate Alzheimer’s Diagnosis

(Providence, RI) -- The Memory and Aging Program at Butler Hospital, with support from the Warren Alpert Foundation and Carney Institute for Brain Science at Brown University, has launched a new research study to evaluate methods for early and accurate Alzheimer’s disease (AD) diagnosis. The BioFinder-Brown Study aims to validate new blood tests in individuals who are healthy, yet may have a higher risk for developing AD. The study will also use these and other metrics to better predict the risk and progression of Alzheimer’s disease.

“Developing easy-to-use blood tests will lead to early diagnosis and treatment and be a game changer in the fight against Alzheimer’s disease,” said Dr. Stephen Salloway, Principal Investigator of the BioFinder-Brown site.

The study is being conducted in collaboration with the Swedish BIOFINDER Study based at Lund University under the leadership of Oskar Hansson, MD, Ph.D. BIOFINDER, which stands for BIOmarkers For Identifying Neurodegenerative Disorders Early and Reliably, collaborates with leading scientists, universities, and companies worldwide to discover key pathological mechanisms in Alzheimer’s disease. Butler Hospital and Brown University are excited to be partnering with the BioFinder team, global leaders in developing blood tests for Alzheimer’s disease.

The BioFinder-Brown study is now enrolling approximately 200 participants of diverse ethnicities who are between the ages of 50 and 80 years old and perform normally and have no significant memory impairment. Four hundred participants will be enrolled in Sweden using the same protocol. Participation in the five-year study will involve procedures such as blood testing, memory, and thinking assessments, Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) scans, Positron Emission Tomography (PET) scan, and Retinal (Eye) Imaging scans. Some procedures such as additional PET scans and learning about the individual risk for AD will be optional for interested individuals.

Those interested in learning more about participating in the BioFinder-Brown study can visit the study’s website at butler.org/BIOFINDER, call (401) 455-6402 or send an e-mail to memory@butler.org.

About the Memory and Aging Program at Butler Hospital

The Memory & Aging Program (MAP) at Butler Hospital is a worldwide leader in Alzheimer’s disease research and a local Rhode Island partner in the fight against Alzheimer’s and other forms of dementia. An affiliate of The Warren Alpert Medical School of Brown University, MAP has a 25-year history of excellence in Alzheimer’s clinical care, training, and research aimed at developing new and better ways to detect, treat, and someday even prevent Alzheimer’s. Individuals who wish to be considered for participation in current and future research studies and clinical trials conducted at the Memory and Aging Program for the prevention and treatment of Alzheimer’s disease can join the program’s Alzheimer’s Prevention Registry at Butler Hospital online at butler.org/ALZregistry or by calling (401) 455-6402. For more information visit butler.org/memory and follow on Facebook and Twitter.

About Butler Hospital

Butler Hospital, a member of Care New England, is the only private, nonprofit psychiatric and substance abuse hospital serving adults, seniors, and adolescents in Rhode Island and southeastern New England. Founded in 1844, it was the first hospital in Rhode Island and has earned a reputation as the leading provider of innovative psychiatric treatments in the region. The Major Affiliated Teaching Hospital for Psychiatry and Behavioral Health at The Warren Alpert Medical School of Brown University, Butler is recognized worldwide as a pioneer in conducting cutting-edge research. For more information, visit butler.org.

About the Carney Institute for Brain Science at Brown University

The mission of Brown University’s Robert J. and Nancy D. Carney Institute for Brain Science is to promote discovery and innovation in brain science by supporting a diverse community of experimentalists, theorists, engineers, and clinicians. We do this by recruiting and retaining world-class faculty, creating an outstanding collaborative training environment, seeding innovative projects, supporting collaborative teams, and raising the visibility and reputation of Carney researchers.

The Carney Institute supports research, training, and outreach to enhance its community of 200 faculty members and their laboratories from 20 academic and clinical units at Brown. The institute’s pioneering work is driving discovery that promises to improve the quality of life for people affected by brain disorders and injury and help us understand the complexities of the brain. For more information, visit brown.edu/carney.

About the Center for Alzheimer’s Disease Research at Brown University

Brown University’s Center for Alzheimer’s Disease Research is committed to advancing early detection and individualized treatment for Alzheimer’s disease and related dementias. The Center for Alzheimer’s Disease Research integrates the expertise of Brown’s Robert J. and Nancy D. Carney Institute for Brain Science and the Division of Biology and Medicine. The Center for Alzheimer’s Disease Research catalyzes collaborations across basic and clinical research groups toward uncovering when, where and how Alzheimer’s disease first arises to advance the pace toward treatment. Our research projects integrate knowledge across biological systems in humans, including behavioral, neural, vascular, and immune.

About BIO-Finder Sweden

BioFINDER-1 and BioFINDER-2 are clinical studies led by Professor Oskar Hansson and conducted by researchers at Lund University and Skåne University Hospital via the Memory Clinic and the Neurology Clinic. The studies consist of over 3000 healthy control subjects and patients with neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s. The goal is to evaluate biomarkers for early and accurate diagnosis of these diseases.

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