Recruitment and Retention for Alzheimer's Disease Diversity Cohorts in the Alzheimer’s Disease Sequencing Project

Join us in our research to find out more about Alzheimer’s disease, what causes it, and how we can prevent it

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Alzheimer’s is a complex disease with a pronounced genetic component. Though the disease affects individuals across diverse groups, affecting almost all ethnic and ancestral groups, efforts for genetic studies historically have not been well diversified. In fact, most genetic studies in Alzheimer’s and Dementia have been performed in non-Hispanic Whites of European ancestry, with communities of Hispanic and African ancestries largely ignored. Our goal is to understand Alzheimer’s disease so that everyone can benefit from better treatments.

Recruitment Criteria

  • Ethnicity

    Are you African American, Hispanic/Latino or of African ancestry? If so, you may qualify to participate in this study.

  • Age

    Are you 50 or older? If so, you may qualify to participate in this study.

  • Gender

    We are seeking to enroll both males and females in our study.

Our Research Team

  • Margaret Pericak-Vance, PhD – Principal Investigator

    Dr. Pericak-Vanceʹs research efforts are directed towards discovering the genetic causes of common disorders such as Alzheimer’s disease, as a pathway to new targets for drug discovery, treatment, and prevention. Her work also focuses on addressing health disparities in genomics research and includes studies in diverse and underserved populations.

  • Rufus Akinyemi, MBBS, PhD – Co-Investigator

    Dr. Akinyemi is the Deputy Director of the Centre for Genomics and Precision Medicine, College of Medicine, University of Ibadan, Nigeria. He is also a Senior Research Fellow in the Neuroscience and Ageing Research Unit, Institute for Advanced Medical Research and Training, College of Medicine, University of Ibadan, Nigeria and a Consultant Neurologist to the University College Hospital, Ibadan, Nigeria. He holds a PhD from Newcastle University, United Kingdom, an MSc in Cell Biology and Genetics, and a Bachelor of Medicine and Surgery from the University of Ibadan.

  • William Bush, PhD – Co-Investigator

    Dr. Bush is a geneticist and bioinformatician whose research interests include developing approaches for integrating functional genomics knowledge—the vast wealth of data generated by genomic projects—into genetic analysis, as well as the use of electronic medical records for translational research. He has conducted numerous analyses across various neurological phenotype domains in collaboration with national consortia.

  • Goldie S. Byrd, MD, PhD – Co-Investigator

    Dr. Byrd is a Professor and Director of the Maya Angelou Center for Health Equity at Wake Forest School of Medicine. Before joining Wake Forest, she was the former Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences, Chair of Biology, and the Nathan F. Simms Endowed Distinguished Professor of Biology at North Carolina A&T State University. While serving as Dean, Dr. Byrd founded the Center for Outreach in Alzheimer’s Aging and Community Health (COAACH) to complement her research on the genetics of Alzheimer’s disease in African Americans.

  • Allison Caban-Holt, PhD – Co-Investigator

    Dr. Caban-Holt holds a doctoral degree in Clinical Psychology from the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, and is currently the Associate Director of the Maya Angelou Center for Health Equity at Wake Forest School of Medicine in Winston-Salem, NC. She has spent much of her career focused on the cognitive assessment of dementia, recruitment of medically underserved groups into research studies in aging, and the adaptation of dementia assessment tools for special populations. She serves as the chair of the Recruitment and Retention Committee of the Southwest Oncology Group (SWOG), and is a member of the Alzheimer’s Clinical Trials Consortium (ACTC) Inclusion and Diversity Committee.

  • Jonathan Haines, PhD – Co-Investigator

    Dr. Haines, is an internationally recognized researcher and educator with extensive experience in all aspects of genetic epidemiology, with a particular focus on illuminating the genetic architecture of Alzheimer’s disease and other complex diseases.

  • Brian Kunkle, PhD, MPH – Co-Investigator

    Dr. Kunkle is a genetic epidemiologist and assistant professor at the HIHG. Since joining the HIHG in 2012 to complete a postdoctoral fellowship, he has primarily researched the genetic epidemiology of AD. Dr. Kunkle has considerable experience analyzing clinical and genomic data and a working knowledge of a broad range of statistical analysis software packages.

  • Adesola Ogunniyi, MBChB – Co-Investigator

    Professor Ogunniyi graduated as a medical doctor from the Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife, Nigeria in June 1978; Residency training in Internal Medicine and Neurology at the University College Hospital, Ibadan. Neuroepidemiology Fellowship at the National Institute of Health, Bethesda, Maryland USA (1986-87); Appointed Consultant Physician (Neurologist) in October 1987 and Professor of Medicine, University of Ibadan in October 1997. Involved with community-based research on dementias of the elderly since 1992, and currently serving as PI of study.

  • Christiane Reitz, MD, PhD – Co-Investigator

    Dr. Reitz is Associate Professor of Neurology and Epidemiology, and leader of the ADRC Genomics Core at Columbia University. Dr. Reitz research focuses on identifying the genetic causes underlying early and late-onset Alzheimer’s disease, with a particular emphasis on research in underserved populations.

  • Giuseppe Tosto, MD, PhD – Co-Investigator

    Dr. Tosto is currently Assistant Professor of Neurology at the Gertrude H. Sergievsky Center and the Taub Institute for Research on Alzheimer's Disease and the Aging Brain. He is a genetic epidemiologist who works primarily on populations with admixed ancestry, such as Caribbean Hispanics and African Americans, and has funded projects on admixture mapping and RNA sequencing in the context of Alzheimer’s disease.

  • Jeffery Vance, MD, PhD – Co-Investigator

    Dr. Vance is a Professor of the Dr. John T. Macdonald Foundation Department of Human Genetics and Department of Neurology, Director, Center of Genomic Education and Outreach (GEO) John P. Hussman Institute for Human Genomics.