Remote smartphone tests for inherited frontotemporal dementia
Official title: Validating remote digital assessments for familial frontotemporal dementia
Funded at University of California, San Francisco · NIH-11310847 · Data updated 2026-11-12
Smartphone tasks will be used to find early changes and monitor symptoms in people who carry inherited frontotemporal dementia mutations and in adults across the lifespan.
Quick facts
| Grant type | R01 grant |
|---|---|
| Study type | NIH-funded research |
| Funding institution | University of California, San Francisco NIH-funded |
| Lab location | 1 site (San Francisco, United States) |
| Project start | May 1, 2022 |
| Project end | April 30, 2027 |
| Funding year | 2026 |
| Award (this year) | $812,681 |
| NIH project number | 5R01AG077557-03 |
| Project ID | NIH-11310847 on NIH RePORTER |
Who could benefit from this research
✓Could help
Ideal participants are adults who carry or are at risk for familial frontotemporal dementia, plus cognitively healthy adults willing to use a smartphone app for remote testing.
✕Less likely to help
People without reliable smartphone access, those with advanced FTD who cannot complete phone tasks, or individuals with unrelated forms of dementia may not benefit from these remote tests.
What this research studies
You would use a smartphone app that runs short tasks measuring thinking, behavior, and movement from home. The team will enroll about 1,000 cognitively healthy adults through the Brain Health Registry and also include people who carry familial FTD mutations from the ALLFTD network. Participants complete remote, repeated tests focused on executive and motor skills so small changes can be tracked over time. The project aims to show these phone-based measures can spot early signs, follow progression, and help predict future symptoms.
Why it matters
Potential benefit: If successful, these smartphone tests could help detect symptoms earlier, let patients monitor changes from home, and make it easier to join clinical trials.
How similar studies have gone: Similar smartphone and remote testing approaches have shown promise in Alzheimer's and other aging studies, but applying and validating them specifically for familial FTD is relatively new.
Where this research is happening
-
University of California, San Francisco
San Francisco, United States Active
Researchers
- Principal investigator: Staffaroni, Adam Mark — University of California, San Francisco
- Study coordinator: Staffaroni, Adam Mark
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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.