Brain donor network to advance Alzheimer's and related dementias tissue research
Official title: A network for cohort selection, precision tissue preparation and quantitative neuropathological characterization of Alzheimer's Disease and comorbid dementias.
Funded at Allen Institute · NIH-11416725 · Data updated 2026-11-12
A NIH-funded network will build a large, well-characterized collection of donated brains from people with Alzheimer’s and related dementias to enable advanced tissue analysis.
Quick facts
| Grant type | NIH-funded research |
|---|---|
| Study type | NIH-funded research |
| Funding institution | Allen Institute NIH-funded |
| Lab location | 1 site (Seattle, United States) |
| Project start | March 1, 2020 |
| Project end | August 31, 2030 |
| Funding year | 2026 |
| Award (this year) | $2,581,480 |
| NIH project number | 5U19AG060909-07 |
| Project ID | NIH-11416725 on NIH RePORTER |
Who could benefit from this research
✓Could help
Ideal candidates are adults with or at risk for Alzheimer’s disease or related dementias who may become brain tissue donors or participate in related longitudinal studies.
✕Less likely to help
Individuals who are not able or willing to become brain tissue donors or participate in postmortem donation processes may not benefit directly.
What this research studies
This project creates a nationwide neuropathology core network to collect and preserve brain tissue from adults with AD and ADRD. Donor brains will undergo thorough pathology review and be matched to modern diagnostic criteria, with oversight from a consensus panel. The goal is to support multimodal studies, including single-nucleus multiome and spatial transcriptomics/proteomics, across diverse disease stages. A Donor Selection Committee will guide ethical and diagnostic standards to ensure the donor pool is representative and useful for future research. The effort aims to produce a generalizable brain donor cohort that can accelerate understanding and treatment of AD and comorbid dementias.
Why it matters
Potential benefit: If successful, patients may benefit indirectly through faster discovery of disease mechanisms and potential new therapies.
How similar studies have gone: Previous large-scale brain banks and neuropathology consortia have shown that diverse, well-characterized tissue cohorts enable breakthroughs in diagnosis and biomarker discovery.
Where this research is happening
-
Allen Institute
Seattle, United States Active
Researchers
- Principal investigator: Keene, Christopher Dirk — Allen Institute
- Study coordinator: Keene, Christopher Dirk
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About this research
- This is an active NIH-funded research project — typically early-stage science, not a clinical trial accepting patient enrollment.
- Some NIH-funded labs run parallel clinical studies or seek volunteers for related work. To check, contact the principal investigator or institution listed above.
- For full project details, budget, and progress reports, visit the official NIH RePORTER page.