The Role of the Brain Vascular-Immune Processes in Alzheimer’s

To investigate how vascular injury and inflammation in the brain contributes to Alzheimer’s disease progression by utilizing multimodal and longitudinal in-vivo biomarker studies.

Damage to the brain’s blood vessels can triple the risk of developing Alzheimer’s disease, and overactive immune cells may further exacerbate this damage. Here, researchers will study how these vascular-immune responses affect Alzheimer’s progression by analyzing brain scans and blood samples from 500+ individuals over time. Study outcomes will present a unique and more detailed picture of key and understudied mechanisms driving Alzheimer’s, thereby opening new perspectives on the development of personalized biomarkers and treatment strategies that target the interface between the vascular system, brain immune cells, and Alzheimer’s.

Our research addresses a critical gap in understanding how vascular and inflammatory components of the neurovascular unit can contribute together to the heterogeneity of mixed dementia cohorts more representative of ‘real-world’ populations. Our work will identify inflammatory biomarkers in different stages of vascular injury that influence disease progression. Ultimately, our work has the potential to support biomarker selection and early-stage therapeutic interventions that reduce vascular disease (for example, through the modulation of glia-mediated inflammation or free water accumulation).

Studying vascular-immune interactions will open up new perspectives on 1) different etiologies underlying vascular contributions to dementia, and 2) the development of personalized treatment strategies targeting the interface between the vascular system, brain immune cells, and Alzheimer’s disease.