Individualized Diagnosis and Therapy for Patients

To begin to develop a program that individualizes intervention for each patient, rather than providing maximal intervention, we propose to obtain funding to integrate data including gene expression, proteomic, and general clinical, neurological and neuropsychological data from each of our patients. This project will have a heavy emphasis on clinical characterization, assessing genetic risk factors and microarray analysis of cDNA expression. Our way of conceptualizing intervention for the dementia patients is to ask "how much of which abnormal processes are ongoing in each patient." We will then develop a model system that predicts the biochemical pathways most critical in groups of dementia subjects, and what factors control them. Then, profiling patients individually will determine which interventions are likely to be successful given each patient's unique clinical and biological profile. By combining clinical assays, data analysis tools and modeling along with existing biochemical knowledge, it is our hope that our integrated systems approach will automate directed, individual therapeutic strategies on a "personalized medicine" basis.

Additionally our basic science program includes a number of scientists who evaluate the Alzheimer's disease process from a variety of perspectives.