Bioresource - Genes & cognition

  • Research type

    Research Study

  • Full title

    BioResource - Genes & Cognition: Establishing a stratified population cohort of 40,000 people recallable for pre-clinical studies of neurodegeneration and dementia

  • IRAS ID

    264644

  • Contact name

    Patrick Chinnery

  • Contact email

    pfc25@medschl.cam.ac.uk

  • Sponsor organisation

    Cambridge University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust & the University of Cambridge

  • Clinicaltrials.gov Identifier

    HVS/2018/2567 , Cambridge University Insurance reference

  • Duration of Study in the UK

    3 years, 0 months, 1 days

  • Research summary

    Several new treatments for Alzheimer’s disease and neurodegenerative disorders have shown early promise, but have failed to deliver benefits when studied in patients in clinical trials. This is partly because the treatments were used too late, after irreversible brain damage had occurred. This proposal aims to ultimately establish the largest group of people in the world who have agreed to participate in medical research aimed at understanding early dementia and new treatment studies, so we can start to understand how the disease develops in its earlier stages and try new treatments before any irreversible damage occurs. \n\nThis will be achieved through the NIHR BioResource for Translational Research in Common and Rare Diseases, which will include over 200,000 healthy individuals with their genetic profile well-characterised. We will invite participants to complete on-line tests of memory and cognition to: (1) work out how likely it is that specific genetic variants cause dementia and neurodegeneration; and (2) establish a cohort of volunteers who can be recalled for future studies based on their detailed genetic and cognitive profile. This will provide a unique platform to advance our understanding of the early stages of dementia and the development of new treatments. By agreeing to be contacted about other research, members of this cohort may be invited to take part in other optional studies including natural history, biomarker and early interventional studies, accelerating the discovery of new treatments for Alzheimer’s disease and other neurodegenerative disorders.

  • REC name

    North of Scotland Research Ethics Committee 1

  • REC reference

    19/NS/0118

  • Date of REC Opinion

    3 Jul 2019

  • REC opinion

    Favourable Opinion