Weiner explains that the 800 adults ages 55 to 90 sought for the study will be divided into three groups -- approximately 200 cognitively normal older people will be followed for 3 years, 400 people with MCI will be followed for 3 years, and 200 people with early AD will be followed for 2 years. At the end of the study, the researchers will compare neuroimaging, biological, and clinical information from the participants, looking for correlations among the data to develop standards for tracking the progression of memory decline. A unique feature of the project is the development of an imaging and biomarker database that can be tapped by researchers in both the public and private sectors as they develop and test drugs for memory decline.

"Our goal is to 'see' critical brain changes and to identify biochemical indicators that may be useful in evaluating treatments aimed at slowing memory decline and AD," explains Weiner.


A special aspect of the project is the support of Dr. Maya Angelou, the eminent poet, author, educator, and historian. Dr. Angelou, a professor at Wake Forest University in Winston-Salem, NC, is working with the researchers to ask the public to take part in the study through the national ADNI recruitment outreach campaign, "Imagine Stopping the Progression of Alzheimer's Disease," in which she will appear in radio and print public service announcements. She has a number of dear friends who have suffered the effects of AD.

ADNI is the largest public-private partnership on brain research underway at the NIH, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS). In addition to the NIA, the Federal ADNI partners are the National Institute of Biomedical Imaging and Bioengineering, also part of NIH, and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, another DHHS agency.

Partnership with private-sector funders is managed through the not-for-profit Foundation for the National Institutes of Health, established by the U.S. Congress to support NIH's mission by facilitating private-sector organizations' support of and involvement with NIH programs. Corporate and non-profit participants are: Pfizer Inc; Wyeth Research; Bristol-Myers Squibb; Eli Lilly and Company; GlaxoSmithKline; Merck & Co., Inc.; AstraZeneca AB; Novartis Pharmaceuticals Corporation; Eisai Global Clinical Development; the Alzheimer's Association; Elan Corporation, plc; and the Institute for the Study of Aging. (More information on the Foundation for NIH is available at: www.fnih.org.)

Siemens, Philips, and General Electric, the three primary companies that develop and manufacture imaging equipment, are providing software support for the imaging aspects of the project.

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