Dr. Gyungah Jun awarded new pilot grant to study genetics of Alzheimer’s Disease in Asian-Americans and Asian-Canadians

Dr. Gyungah Jun, along with fellow Principal Investigators, Li-San Wang, Professor of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine in the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania, Helena Chui, of the University of Southern California, and Van Ta Park, of the University of California—San Francisco, has been awarded a two-year, $4.8 million pilot grant by the National Institute on Aging (NIA) for studies of the genetics of Alzheimer’s Disease in people of Asian heritage.

According to the official press release, “A key goal of the new project, which is called the Asian Cohort for Alzheimer’s Disease (ACAD), is to enroll a population of at least 5,000 participants of Asian Ancestry in the United States and Canada—a large enough sample to enable the discovery of new gene variants related to AD risk. ACAD will be recruiting participants over age 60 who have evidence of cognitive impairment, as well as age- and sex-matched controls who have no cognitive complaints. The researchers will compare the DNA, medical histories, and lifestyle factors of these two groups for clues to risks for dementia, and will track participants’ memory and other cognitive test scores.”