CORE D: BIC Core

SUMMARY/ABSTRACT Brain Imaging Core This Center for Neurodegeneration and Translational Neuroscience (CNTN) COBRE Phase 2 application seeks the continuation of success achieved with the COBRE Phase 1 funding and includes a request to establish a Brain Imaging Core (BIC). The primary goals of the BIC are to expand and improve imaging and analytic data analyses methods, which will increase the success of the Phase 2 projects, generate new pilot projects, and establish collaborations with researchers from University of Nevada-Las Vegas (UNLV) and other Institutional Development Award (IDeA) state communities with interests in neuroimaging. Successful interaction of the BIC with the other Cores (Data Management and Statistic Core [DMSC], Clinical and Translational Neuroscience Core [CTNC]) and Phase 2 Junior Investigators (JIs) provides opportunity for advancement to independent research careers, build neuroscience infrastructure in Nevada, and advances the understanding of Alzheimer’s disease (AD) and Parkinson’s disease (PD). Expert imaging and analytic capability is essential for supporting research and training and provides a foundation for transition of the BIC to a self-sustaining core. The major goals of the BIC are to provide support for JIs in neuroimaging research and to further characterize patients and cognitively normal controls using imaging and analytic data analyses. Furthermore, the BIC will develop tutorials for training on imaging and data analysis methods and will advance novel methods to better characterize patients with neurodegenerative disorders resulting in improved assessment, diagnosis, classification, and prediction accuracies, as well as tools for translational discovery. Imaging and data analysis approaches will be strengthened for all COBRE projects and the availability of analytical methods and training will provide significant support to JIs and other researchers throughout the COBRE system. Robust interactions between the brain imaging group that will comprise the BIC and collaborators in Phase 1 supports the creation of this new core in the CNTN.