Alzheimer’s Disease Neuroimaging Initiative Enters Next Phase of Research: BUSM’s Green and Killiany at Forefront

The National Institutes of Health is expanding the Alzheimer’s Disease Neuroimaging Initiative (ADNI), a groundbreaking study that will recruit hundreds of new volunteers to help define the subtle changes that may take place in the brains of older people many years before overt symptoms of Alzheimer’s disease appear. Boston University is one of two sites in Boston participating in this study. Both Robert C. Green, MD, MPH, co-director, Alzheimer’s Disease Clinical & Research Program and professor of Neurology, Genetics and Epidemiology and Ron Killiany, PhD, director of the Center for Biomedical Imaging and associate professor of Anatomy and Neurobiology serve as co-principal investigators for the BU site.

ADNI is the largest public-private partnership to date in Alzheimer’s disease research. It is led by the National Institute on Aging (NIA) at NIH, through a grant to the non-profit Northern California Institute for Research and Education (NCIRE), with private sector support provided through the Foundation for the National Institutes of Health (FNIH).

Dr. Green’s research interests are in early and preclinical detection, treatment and prevention of Alzheimer’s disease. Dr. Green is Principal Investigator and Director of the REVEAL Study (Risk Evaluation and Education for Alzheimer’s disease) a multi-center project funded by the National Human Genome Research Institute and the National Institute on Aging to develop genetic risk assessment strategies for individuals at risk for Alzheimer’s disease. He also serves as associate director of the NIH-funded Alzheimer’s Disease Center.

Dr. Killiany’s research has been focused on exploring the relationship between brain structure and behavior. To a large extent, the studies have focused on the morphological changes that take place in the brain during aging and disease processes. In recent years, his work includes studies aimed at exploring the value of MRI in predicting which subjects will progress to develop cognitive decline of Alzheimer’s disease and which will remain cognitively stable.