The NYU Alzheimer’s Disease Center (ADC) is part of the Department of Psychiatry at New York University School of Medicine, located in midtown Manhattan, in New York City, New York. The ADC is one of thirty Alzheimer's disease research centers in the United States supported by the National Institute on Aging (NIA). As an NIA-supported research facility, the center's goals are to advance current knowledge and understanding of brain aging and Alzheimer's disease, to expand the numbers of scientists working in the field of aging and Alzheimer's research, to work toward better treatment options and care for those living with memory impairment, and most importantly, to apply its findings to the care of patients and their families, and share these findings with healthcare providers, researchers, and the general public.

The ADC's programs and services are directed toward providing its patients and their families with the highest quality diagnostic evaluations, the latest treatment options available, psychosocial support and education that reflect the most up-to-date information about Alzheimer's disease and memory impairment. The ADC's programs and services extend to other research facilities and to healthcare professionals through shared knowledge and collaboration, and to the general public through seminars, presentations at community centers, the ADC's newsletter and this web site.

The NYU ADC is made up of seven core facilities that provide important resources to aging and dementia research programs and scientists at NYU. Each of these cores has the dual goal of providing quality service to patients while also furthering the goals of Alzheimer’s research.

The Administrative Core

Clinical Core

Neuropathology Core

Education Core

Data Management and Biostatistics Core

Neuroimaging Core

Psychosocial Core

ADMINISTRATIVE CORE

The Administrative Core of the ADC provides overall administrative supervision and coordination of the Center to optimize the scientific progress of affiliated researchers, to ensure an environment conducive to the conduct of productive research on Alzheimer’s disease and to make certain that the basic objectives of the ADC are achieved. Annual solicitation and review of pilot studies to be funded by the ADC is also coordinated by the Administrative Core.

CLINICAL CORE

The Clinical Core provides well-diagnosed research participants for scientists conducting clinical studies therefore provides participants with expert, accurate diagnostic cognitive evaluations and maintains the information and clinical material from these evaluations for further study. Participants are followed over time from first diagnosis to post mortem examination, for those enrolled in the brain donation program. The Core ensures that participants are matched with clinical research projects that are appropriate for them.

NEUROPATHOLOGY CORE

The Neuropathology Core is best known to research participants and their families for its brain donation program. Through the brain donation program and other efforts, this core conducts thorough postmortem examinations (autopsies) and maintains a brain bank for continued study by Alzheimer’s researchers.

The studies conducted by this Core, either independently or through collaboration with other research facilities, provide information valuable to understanding the progression of Alzheimer’s disease, from its earliest onset to its latest stages, and to contribute to discovering the causes of this disease.

EDUCATION CORE

Most ADC research participants learn about the Alzheimer’s Disease Center through the outreach efforts of this Core. The Education Core provides the general public with information through seminars, education meetings, memory screenings, newsletters and this web site.

The goals of this Core are to:

• educate the elderly and their family members about normal aging and dementia
• educate caregivers, providing them with up-to-date information available at research institutions about diagnosis and management of Alzheimer’s disease.

- educate health care professionals - physicians, nurses and social workers - and students entering these professions about state-of-the-art methods for accurate diagnosis of MCI and AD, the importance of participating in clinical trials, and best practices for caring for a person with MCI and AD and helping their family members.

- educate support and resource providers in the community about normal cognitive change to be expected with aging, recognition of early signs of dementia in the elderly and the benefits of early diagnosis, treatment and appropriate referral.

In addition to working with the general public and health and service providers, this Core also works to expand the number of scientists trained to conduct AD research and facilitate transfer of information among research specialties in AD.

THE DATA MANAGEMENT AND STATISTICS CORE (DATA CORE)

NEUROIMAGING CORE

The MRI and PET scan studies for participants of the ADC undergoing a comprehensive memory evaluation are provided and interpreted under the mandate of the Neuroimaging core. This data together with other research efforts contribute to the understanding of the markers that signify the progression of the illness. This data is categorized and organized in a user friendly format that facilitates its use by the other cores and by collaborating researchers.

PSYCHOSOCIAL CORE

The Psychosocial Core provides counseling, support and resource information to patients and families at the NYU-ADC. This Core contributes to Alzheimer’s research by studying the relationship between psychosocial data on individuals with MCI, AD, and their family members and clinical data collected during the Clinical Core evaluation of ADC subjects. The Psychosocial Core makes possible the development of new treatment and care strategies, and investigation of the impact of living with Alzheimer’s disease and other related disorders either as the person with the illness or as a caregiving partner.

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