Project Title: A risk prediction score for Alzheimer’s disease in asymptomatic and asymptomatic individuals using a novel array of single nucleotide polymorphisms The University of Manchester and StrataStem
Dementia is a leading cause of death in the UK and globally, while more than 900,000 people live with dementia in the UK. Alzheimer’s disease is the most common form of dementia, accounting for 60% of all diagnoses. Early diagnosis and intervention in Alzheimer’s Disease is difficult but recognised as crucial in treatment of this disease.
This project will build on existing evidence of DNA changes (called SNPs) that were found in a small group of people with Alzheimer’s but not in healthy people. The researchers will check 250 more patients to confirm these SNPs really distinguish Alzheimer’s Disease patients from others. They will seek to find the smallest set of SNPs that reliably shows the difference (probably 15–20 SNPs) and develop a quick test (using TaqMan technology) to calculate a Polygenic Risk Score —a score that estimates someone’s genetic risk for Alzheimer’s Disease. They will then test this tool on the study group and on a larger independent dataset. If successful, the study could lead to a rapid genetic test for Alzheimer’s risk and early diagnosis
About the Industry Partner
StrataStem identifies, collects, and processes tissues from patients with neurological disease. They gather important medical background information and check for known genetic risk factors and create special cells called induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs), which can be turned into different types of cells in the lab. This allows them to build in-vitro disease models (models that mimic how a disease behaves in the body), to understand the type and stage of the disease and to test potential new drugs, identify and confirm biological targets, check for toxicity, group patients into meaningful categories, and learn more about how neurological diseases develop. To support research on specific conditions, StrataStem also design custom disease-specific diagnostic tests.