Core B: Clinical Core

CLINICAL CORE: CORE B - PROJECT SUMMARY/ ABSTRACT The Clinical Core (Core B) of the Johns Hopkins Alzheimer’s Disease Research Center (JHADRC) has several overarching goals. It is responsible for: (1) the enrollment and follow-up of diverse JHADRC participants (working with Core E); (2) the completion of annual standardized medical, neurologic, psychiatric and neuropsychological evaluations of the participants; (3) assisting the Neuroimaging Core (Core F) and the Biofluid Biomarker Core (Core G) to collect brain images [including both magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scans and positron emission tomography (PET scans)], blood and cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) specimens from the participants, and sharing these valuable resources with the National Alzheimer’s Coordinating Center (NACC), the National Centralized Repository for Alzheimer’s Disease (NCRAD) and repositories for other ongoing multi-center studies; (5) providing well-characterized subjects and clinical/cognitive data to JHADRC associated research projects focused on Alzheimer’s disease and related dementias (ADRD), (6) maintaining an autopsy rate of approximately 70% of deceased autopsied participants (working with Core D), (7) participating in collaborative research with other ADRCs, including multi-center studies related to ADRD, and (7) working with the Data Core (Core C) to share participant clinical/cognitive data with the NACC. Through these efforts, Core B strives to: (1) facilitate the accrual of well-characterized, longitudinally followed participants, along with relevant clinical, cognitive, and biomarker data, as well as brain tissue for research; (2) support investigators associated with the JHADRC at the institution with key resources; (3) share these resources nationally, and (4) promote a culture of collaboration for clinical/translational research in the field.