CARE Consortium Biobank

The project purpose is to characterize genomic factors that increase the risk of developing Alzheimer’s & Related Dementias (ADRD) in individuals exposed to concussion and repetitive head impacts.

This proposal applies emerging understanding of the genomic factors of ADRD to a large cohort of young adults with varying degrees of exposure to concussion/mTBI and repetitive head impacts. This cohort of males and females has been characterized with brain health measures and followed in a prospective longitudinal design for 10 years. This study will elucidate the interaction between neurotrauma and genetic risk profile for ADRD. It offers the potential to identify individuals showing very early pre-clinical features of ADRD, who might benefit from emerging disease modifying therapies.

This study addresses public health concerns about whether exposure to repetitive head impacts and /or concussion as a young adult increases the risk of developing ADRD, and if genomic factors associated with ADRD amplify this risk. It will inform our understanding of the interaction of genetic and environmental risk factors for ADRD and offer the potential for very early identification of those individuals at greatest risk for ADRD, who might benefit from disease modifying therapies