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NIH grant 1R21AG101733-01: Advancing population-based research on cognitive aging and dementia with minimally-invasive methods for quantifying biomarkers of neurocognitive function
Institute: {'code': 'AG', 'abbreviation': 'NIA', 'name': 'National Institute on Aging', 'admin_org_id': '12500002', 'admin_funding_url': ''}. PI: THOMAS W MC DADE. Award: $440000.
Start: 2026-09-05T00:00:00.
PROJECT SUMMARY
More than 6 million Americans currently live with Alzheimer’s Disease. The annual cost of care for Alzheimer’s
Disease and related dementias (ADRD) exceeds $300 billion and is projected to surpass $1 trillion by 2050.
Addressing this emerging public health crisis requires a deeper understanding of the processes that contribute
to brain aging in order to reduce the human and financial costs of ADRD. Biomarkers of neurodegenerative
processes can be measured in peripheral blood samples to identify risk for ADRD before the onset of clinical
disease, but collection of these samples is limited to clinical settings where it is possible to draw venous blood.
Methods for measuring ADRD biomarkers in non-clinical settings are needed to support new research on the
genetic, lifestyle, and environmental factors that increase risk for dementia. This project will validate methods
for quantifying ADRD biomarkers in a few drops of capillary blood as a low-cost, scalable approach to
advancing research on cognitive aging and brain health in non-clinical settings. Dried blood spots (DBS)—
drops of whole blood collected on filter paper following a simple finger stick—represent a minimally-invasive
alternative to venous blood collection that is widely used in population-based and epidemiological studies. The
paper dries and preserves the sample and reduces costs of collection, processing, and shipping. The project’s
first aim involves optimizing laboratory assays that will accurately and reliably measure the following ADRD
biomarkers in DBS: neurofilament light chain, glial fibrillary acidic protein, amyloid 𝛽𝛽 42/40, and Tau proteins
(total, pTau181, pTau217). Each assay will be evaluated for precision, reliability, accuracy, lower limit of
detection, as well as potential sources of pre-analytic variation, including sample volume, drying conditions,
and stability during transport and storage. The second aim will test assay performance in capillary blood
samples collected with devices that are designed for self-collection in the home. The third aim will analyze
agreement in results between serum samples and matched DBS samples to provide information on assay
accuracy and validity, and to generate formulas for conversion of results across sample types. New methods
for measuring ADRD biomarkers in small volumes of capillary blood that reduce the costs, sample processing
requirements, and cold chain logistics of venipuncture will have a major impact by moving ADRD research
beyond the clinic and into large epidemiological and behavioral/demographic surveys.document fetched 2026-09-13 02:46