NIH Awards $15M Grant to Diagnose CTE During Life
The National Institutes of Health (NIH) has awarded a $15.3 million grant to help researchers diagnose the progressive brain disease chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE) in the living. The funds, from the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke and the National Institute on Aging, will form a consortium of top academic research centers, led by the Boston University CTE Center, known as “The DIAGNOSE CTE Research Project-II.” The study will examine new potential biomarkers using blood and brain imaging to help doctors accurately diagnose CTE in living patients. It will also help doctors learn how to differentiate CTE in the clinic from similar diseases like Alzheimer’s.
“This study will create unprecedented data sets needed to accurately diagnose CTE during life,” said Michael Alosco, PhD, associate professor of neurology at the Boston University Chobanian & Avedisian School of Medicine. “It will fill two missing links in the literature preventing us from developing definitive diagnostic criteria for CTE during life. First, we need longitudinal studies that include brain donation. Second, we need to better compare people at risk for CTE to other disease groups.”
“As a former NFL player, I know I am at risk for CTE, but right now I am blessed to be feeling healthy,” said Matt Hasselbeck, three-time Pro Bowl selection during his 18-season career. “As a former quarterback, I’m choosing to volunteer for DIAGNOSE CTE II to honor my teammates, especially those who blocked for me and took hits to the head, so I didn’t have to. I encourage former college and pro football players age- 50 and over to join me in signing up for the study to help researchers learn how to diagnose and treat CTE.”
Right now, CTE only can be diagnosed definitively after death following autopsy. There is an urgent need to develop validated criteria to make the diagnosis of CTE during a person’s life to inform the course of clinical and biological changes in people, as well as better understand why some football players develop long-term problems and others don’t. Although this study will only study male football players, the findings will benefit all groups at risk for CTE, including male and female contact sports athletes and military veterans.
The study is built upon the successes of the first DIAGNOSE CTE Research Project, funded by the NIH in 2015, and will examine new potential biomarkers using blood and brain imaging to help doctors accurately diagnose CTE in living patients.
“Monitoring individuals over time to see how they change in terms of their thinking, memory, mood and behavior is essential for informing diagnostics,” said Robert Stern, PhD, a principal investigator of the original DIAGNOSE CTE Research Project. “That is exactly what we are doing with the second iteration of this project.”
Participants will enroll in one of the five NIA-funded Alzheimer’s disease research centers to complete neurological, cognitive and neuropsychiatric exams, multimodal brain imaging, tau PET imaging, and blood draws. The information will be analyzed to characterize the specific signs, symptoms, and biomarkers of people at risk for CTE. Travel support for participants is provided.
Chris Nowinski, PhD, and the Concussion Legacy Foundation will lead recruitment efforts. Robert Turner, PhD, an associate professor from Duke University, will assist with recruitment focusing on understudied groups.
The DIAGNOSE CTE Research Project-II is a collaboration involving researchers and clinicians from Boston University, the University of California at San Francisco (UCSF), Banner Alzheimer’s Institute and Mayo Clinic in Arizona, the University of Florida and the University of Texas in San Antonio, and researchers from 10 other collaborating institutions. The project is led by Drs. Michael Alosco and Robert Stern at Boston University, Gil Rabinovici at University of California San Francisco, and Eric Reiman at Banner Alzheimer’s Institute.
“As a clinician and behavioral neurologist, I often see patients concerned for having underlying CTE, and the limitations of accurately diagnosing CTE during life at this time creates significant challenges in the care for patients,” said Rabinovici. “I am excited by the new insights this project will offer that I believe will directly translate to optimizing patient care.”
“We are excited about the chance to make a difference in understanding and diagnosing CTE and finding ways to improve the lives of athletes with repetitive head impacts, while doing so in partnership with our valued research participants and colleagues,” said Reiman, a leader in Alzheimer’s research and member of the original DIAGNOSE CTE team.
The DIAGNOSE CTE Research Project-II will recruit 350 men, age 50 and older, including 225 former college and professional football players, 75 control participants and 50 people with Alzheimer’s disease. Former football players, as well as men who have no history of contact and collision sports, who are interested in participating, are encouraged to sign up for the Concussion Legacy Foundation Research Registry at CLFResearch.org, where they will be alerted to all clinical research opportunities they might be eligible for.