The Knight ADRC has supported many investigators at Washington University and at other institutions over the years. We wish to avoid the situation where two investigators study the same research question to avoid duplication of effort and potential conflict. To determine if your topic has already been studied with our resources, please search our database. If you find that your topic or a related topic has been submitted, you may wish to contact the investigator to inquire about their findings to determine how you might proceed. You may wish to collaborate or modify your request to avoid overlap. The results below reflect requests made since online requests have been accepted. As such, not all fields will have data as certain information, such as aims, were not collected until recently. If an entry has been assigned an ID number (e.g. T1004), the full request has been submitted and is either approved, disapproved or in process. If an entry has no ID number, then it represents a submission that has not yet been reviewed. Search terms are applied across an entire requests application including variables not displayed below. A more specific, detailed search may yield better results depending upon your needs.
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Investigator: Hongzhe Li, PhD (University of Pennsylvania)
Project Title: Cell-type-resolved glial reactivity as a longitudinal predictor of cognitive deterioration in Alzheimer’s disease
Date: September 19, 2026 at 12:39 am
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Aim 1: Test whether longitudinal CSF sTREM2 (microglia) and GFAP/YKL-40 (astrocyte) trajectories improve prediction of cognitive decline and clinical progression beyond core AD biomarkers, using joint longitudinal-survival models.
Aim 2: Test whether the prognostic contribution of astrocyte and microglial markers differs by disease stage (cognitively normal, MCI, dementia) via stage-by-marker interactions in pre-specified nested models.
Aim 3: Externally validate an ADNI-developed prediction model in Knight ADRC (leave-one-cohort-out), reporting time-dependent AUC, Brier score and calibration, with linkage to NACC UDS for harmonised outcomes.
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Investigator: Chihiro Sato
Project Title: Linking Tau Aggregation to MTBR-tau via Omics Pathways
Date: September 17, 2026 at 10:58 am
Request ID: D2664
Aim 1: Identify omics-derived pathways linking tau PET to fluid (e)MTBR-tau in Alzheimer’s disease (AD)
Aim 2: Test whether combining fluid MTBR-tau with omics-derived pathways improves prediction of tau PET and cognitive function in AD
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Investigator: Xiao Zhang
Project Title: Cell-Type–Associated Proteomic Signatures of Brain Aging and Alzheimer’s Disease in Cerebrospinal Fluid
Date: September 14, 2026 at 8:25 am
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Aim 1: Characterize age-related CSF protein trajectories and their enrichment for neuronal, glial, and vascular cell types in cognitively unimpaired individuals.
Aim 2: Develop and validate cell-type–associated CSF proteomic age models using cognitively unimpaired reference participants, and assess their reproducibility across cohorts.
Aim 3: Evaluate associations of proteomic age deviations with cognitive impairment, longitudinal cognitive decline, Alzheimer’s disease biomarkers, and APOE genotype.
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Investigator: Joyce Chong
Project Title: Identification of a Robust Blood Biomarker Signature for Significant White Matter Hyperintensities (WMH): A Multi-Cohort Study
Date: September 10, 2026 at 6:47 pm
Request ID: D2663
Aim 1: Identify blood biomarkers associated with WMH volumes by profiling the plasma proteome of at least five international cohorts. All cohorts will include participants with MRI-measured WMH volumes and plasma proteomic data generated using NULISAseq CNS Disease Panel 120.
Aim 2: Determine the most robust biomarker changes, defined as biomarkers that are consistently altered in the same direction across multiple study cohorts (at least 3 study cohorts). These biomarkers are collectively termed the “diagnostic protein signature associated with WMH”.
Aim 3: Assess the diagnostic performance of this protein signature for identifying individuals with significant WMH, defined as Fazekas score ≥2 (or other clinically-relevant visual assessments).
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Investigator: Aaron Simmons
Project Title: Naturalistic Driving Dynamics, Multimodal Neuroimaging, and Longitudinal Clinical Progression in the DRIVES Project
Date: September 5, 2026 at 2:31 am
Request ID: D2662
Aim 1: Derive reproducible participant-level markers from low- and high-frequency naturalistic driving data collected during March-May 2023, including mobility, speed, braking, acceleration, idling, and within-trip kinematic variability.
Aim 2: Test associations of driving markers with structural MRI burden and longitudinal change in hippocampal volume, AD-signature cortical thickness, and white matter hyperintensities using all available imaging time points.
Aim 3: Determine whether driving markers are associated with amyloid and tau PET burden and longitudinal accumulation using all available PET time points, accounting for demographics, driving exposure, and assessment timing.
Aim 4: Evaluate whether driving dynamics add information beyond conventional trip summaries and clinical measures for subsequent cognitive-functional decline and diagnostic progression, using the complete available clinical follow-up.
Investigator: Asim Iqbal
Project Title: External Validation of MRI-to-Neuropathology and Molecular Prediction Models in Alzheimer Disease
Date: September 4, 2026 at 12:46 pm
Request ID: D2661
Aim 1: Identify Knight ADRC participants with overlapping antemortem structural MRI and postmortem neuropathology and harmonize anatomically and biologically comparable features with SEA-AD.
Aim 2: Evaluate whether MRI-to-neuropathology relationships learned from SEA-AD generalize to an independent longitudinal Alzheimer disease cohort.
Aim 3: Determine the overlap of MRI and neuropathology participants with available brain molecular/omics data to assess feasibility of an MRI to neuropathology to molecular prediction framework.
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Investigator: Richard Mayeux
Project Title: Autopsy results heterogeneity among siblings and related family members on the AD Family Based Study
Date: September 4, 2026 at 10:42 am
Request ID: D2660
Aim 1: Autopsy report harmonization across different institutions and pathologist
Aim 2: Analyze heterogeneity among siblings and related family members
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Investigator: Wang wei
Project Title: CSF DKK3 Across the Alzheimer Disease Biological Continuum: Associations with AT(N), Neuroimaging, and Longitudinal Cognition
Date: September 3, 2026 at 1:12 am
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Aim 1: Determine whether CSF DKK3 is associated with Alzheimer disease biological stage and continuous amyloid, tau, and neurodegeneration biomarkers.
Aim 2: Evaluate associations of CSF DKK3 with amyloid and tau PET, structural MRI measures, and matched fluid biomarkers when available.
Aim 3: Determine whether baseline CSF DKK3 is associated with longitudinal cognitive decline and clinical progression across the Alzheimer disease continuum.
Aim 4: Assess the robustness and specificity of DKK3 associations across demographic, APOE, biomarker-defined, and clinical subgroups using the broader CSF proteomic context.
Investigator: Ke Hou
Project Title: Plasma Biomarker Models for Alzheimer’s Disease Pathology, Tau Staging, Clinical Progression, and eMTBR-tau243 Prediction
Date: August 31, 2026 at 8:59 pm
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Aim 1: To develop models for predicting plasma eMTBR-tau243 from widely available plasma biomarkers and clinical variables, enabling estimation of tau-related pathology when direct eMTBR-tau243 measurement is unavailable.
Aim 2: To develop and validate plasma biomarker models for identifying cerebral amyloid pathology, using amyloid PET measures as the reference standard.
Aim 3: To characterize biological stages of Alzheimer’s disease by integrating plasma eMTBR-tau243 with amyloid and tau pathology and to evaluate its utility for blood-based tau staging.
Aim 4: To develop longitudinal models for predicting cognitive decline and progression to symptomatic Alzheimer’s disease using plasma biomarkers, demographics, genetics, and baseline disease stage.
Investigator: Jun Yang
Project Title: Plasma and CSF SEPHS1 as Compartment-Specific Markers of Cognitive Trajectory in Alzheimer Disease
Date: August 28, 2026 at 2:19 pm
Request ID: D2659
Aim 1: Determine whether plasma SEPHS1 protein abundance is associated with Alzheimer disease biomarkers, clinical status, and cognitive function.
Aim 2: Determine whether baseline plasma SEPHS1 predicts subsequent cognitive-functional decline and clinical progression.
Aim 3: Determine plasma–CSF SEPHS1 concordance and whether plasma and CSF SEPHS1 provide independent information about longitudinal cognitive outcomes.
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