Primary Grants
John C. Morris, MD, is the Principal Investigator and Director for the following grants from the National Institute on Aging (NIA):
Alzheimer’s Disease Research Center
(Knight ADRC; P50-AG05681; 1985 - present)
2009 Competing Renewal PDF
Healthy Aging & Senile Dementia
Program Project (HASD; P01-AG03991; 1984 – present)
Antecedent Biomarkers for AD: The Adult Children Study
(ACS; P01-AG26276; 2005 – present)
Dominantly Inherited Alzheimer Network
(DIAN; U01-AG032438; 2008 – present)
The Knight ADRC, HASD, ACS and DIAN engage faculty and staff from the Department of Neurology and other Departments at Washington University in the study of cognitive aging and dementia. Alzheimer's disease (AD) is a central focus both research and education. These primary grants provide the core data acquisition and management structures for numerous other grant-funded and pilot research efforts by investigators at Washington University.
Research efforts through the Knight ADRC and HASD focus on identifying causal and risk factor mechanisms in the development of AD and other dementias, biochemical and clinical-behavioral indicators of disease onset and progression, and potential therapeutic and preventative agents. Research participants and family members take part in annual, longitudinal assessments through the Knight ADRC's clinical office, the Memory and Aging Project (MAP). MAP participants are also invited to take part in various ancillary studies supported by the Knight ADRC, such as clinical drug trials, and provide biological and imaging specimens for basic research projects in affiliated labs across the University.
The ACS builds on and focuses work conducted through the Knight ADRC and HASD over the past two decades, with a goal of identifying antecedent biomarkers for the early and preclinical detection of AD.
Funded by a multiple-year research grant from the National Institute on Aging, DIAN involves outstanding international research institutions. John C. Morris, M.D., Friedman Distinguished Professor of Neurology at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, is the project’s principal investigator.
