The main goal of the Alber lab is to develop minimally invasive, cost-effective, accessible, point-of-care biomarkers for the early detection of Alzheimer’s disease, before people show symptoms and quality of life is affected.
We are targeting biomarkers in the retina and in blood.
Current Projects
- Atlas of Retinal Imaging in Alzheimer’s Study – 2 (ARIAS 2)
We will examine retinal biomarkers using spectral domain optical coherence tomography (SD-OCT) to look at structural, protein-related, and angiographic changes in the retina in older adults at high risk for Alzheimer’s disease. We will compare these changes to reference standard brain imaging biomarkers (Aβ PET, 3T MRI) and novel plasma markers that show promise for the detection of preclinical AD (ptau231, ptau181, ptau217) and validate discriminatory and accurate retinal biomarkers associated with AD risk, burden, and progression.
This study will recruit at two sites: Butler Hospital Memory & Aging Program (Dr. Alber’s lab) and Washington University at St. Louis School of Medicine (PI: Gregory Van Stavern). We will recruit 190 participants across 2 sites. This study is a collaboration between URI, Brown University, University of North Texas Health Sciences Center, and Washington University at St. Louis, with Dr. Alber leading the grant.,
- Dominantly Inherited Alzheimer’s Disease – Retinal Sub-Study (DIAN- Obs Retinal)
Autosomal Dominant Alzheimer’s Disease (ADAD) accounts for 1-3% of Alzheimer’s disease cases. It is a unique subtype of disease that is passed down from parent to child – if a parent carries an ADAD gene, they have a 50% chance of passing it to their child. Patients with ADAD develop symptoms at a younger age than typical Alzheimer’s disease, as early as their 30s, and if they pass the gene to their children, the children will develop symptoms around the same age as the parent. The Dominantly Inherited Alzheimer’s Network (link to: https://dian.wustl.edu/) is a study of adult children (aged 18+) of parents with ADAD. Participants are seen every 2 years for biomarker assessment: including brain scans (MRI, amyloid PET), bloodwork, cognitive testing, and other assessment.
The DIAN-Observational Retinal Sub-Study is at 3 sites: Butler Hospital, University of Pittsburgh, and Edith Cowan University. The goal is to characterize retinal changes in autosomal dominant Alzheimer’s disease and compare them to brain changes assessed with MRI and PET, and cognitive/functional status. This will allow us to determine whether retinal changes mirror brain changes in this rare type of Alzheimer’s disease.
- Biofinder
This observational study is currently taking place in the Memory and Aging Program at Butler Hospital. The study will recruit up to 200 cognitively healthy subjects aged 50 to 80 years with and follow them for 3 years. This study is designed to measure Alzheimer’s Disease (AD) biomarkers in the blood and retina and compare these biomarkers to amyloid and tau Positron Emission Tomography (PET) scans and digital and traditional memory and thinking testing.
Previous Studies
- Atlas of Retinal Imaging in Alzheimer’s Study (ARIAS)
- Building an Infrastructure and Dynamic Dataset for AD Risk Assessment
- Using an Alzheimer’s disease blood test to predict amyloid PET in APOE E4 non-carries
- Biomarkers in Alzheimer’s disease: Towards a neuromodulatory target.
Funders:
- National Institute on Aging (NIA)
- National Institute of General Medical Sciences (NIGMS)
- Advance CTR
- Warren Alpert Foundation
- Morton Plant Mease Foundation