Biomarker Core

There is a critical need for biomarkers that detect AD/ADRD pathology at its earliest stages, capture disease heterogeneity, monitor progression, and enable patient stratification for personalized therapeutic strategies. In alignment with the overarching mission of the HADRC, the Biomarker Core will collect and analyze a comprehensive panel of established and emerging biomarkers in both women and men with MCI due to AD. By elucidating sex-specific biological mechanisms, including differences in immune responses and copathologies such as vascular disease and synucleinopathies, this work will advance precision medicine approaches for heterogeneous AD populations, ultimately improving diagnosis and treatment for both sexes. The Core will integrate conventional methods widely used in the field (e.g., measurement of biofluid AD biomarkers/ sex hormones) with innovative technologies developed by HADRC investigators, including seed amplification assays for misfolded protein aggregates, assays for vascular injury biomarkers, and novel panels of central and peripheral inflammatory mediators. A systematic process will be implemented for the banking and distribution of well-annotated biospecimens (including the generation of iPSCs), each linked to rigorously documented clinical data, and made available to the broader scientific community. The Biomarker Core has assembled a team of accomplished researchers with complementary expertise and will work in close

coordination with the Clinical Core for biospecimen collection, integrating data with the Clinical, Neuroimaging, and Neuropathology Cores, with analytical support from the DMS Core.