RADC Cohort Study Designs in Brief

Religious Orders Study (ROS) Overview paper

Design: Longitudinal, epidemiologic clinical-pathologic cohort study of aging and Alzheimer's disease (AD)

Participants: Older Catholic nuns, priests, and brothers from more than 40 groups across US

  • Without known dementia at enrollment
  • Agreeing to annual clinical evaluation and cognitive testing, baseline blood draw (subset with annual blood draw)
  • Agreeing to brain donation after death (some in Chicago area also agree to spinal cord, nerve, and muscle donation)

Enrollment began in 1994.

Rush Memory and Aging Project (MAP) Overview paper

Design: Longitudinal, epidemiologic clinical-pathologic cohort study of common chronic conditions of aging with emphasis on decline in cognitive and motor function and risk of AD

Participants: Older adults recruited from retirement communities and subsidized senior housing facilities throughout Chicagoland and northeastern Illinois

  • Without known dementia at enrollment
  • Agreeing to annual clinical evaluation, cognitive testing, and blood draw
  • Agreeing to organ donation (spinal cord, muscle and nerve, and brain)

Recruitment began in 1997, with expanded recruitment and data collection in 2001. Participants are invited to participate in substudies (including studies of physical activity and sleep using actigraphy; neuroimaging; and health and financial decision making).

Minority Aging Research Study (MARS) Overview paper

Design: Longitudinal, epidemiologic cohort study of cognitive decline and risk of AD in older African Americans

Participants: Older adults who self-identify as African American adults

  • Without known dementia at enrollment
  • Agreeing to annual clinical evaluation and blood draw
  • Agreeing optionally to brain donation

Recruitment began in 2004, voluntary brain donation began in 2010. Recruitment locations include churches, subsidized senior housing facilities, retirement communities, African American clubs, organizations, fraternities, sororities, and social service centers that cater to seniors in the metropolitan Chicago area and outlying suburbs.

African American Clinical Core (AA Core) Overview paper

Design: Longitudinal, epidemiologic clinical-pathologic cohort study of the transition from normal aging to mild cognitive impairment (MCI) to the earliest stages of dementia

Participants: Older adults from metropolitan Chicago area and outlying suburbs, the majority of whom self-identify as African American

  • Includes those with and without dementia
  • Agreeing to annual clinical evaluation, blood draw, and the National Alzheimer's Disease Coordinating Center UDS
  • Agreeing optionally to organ donation (spinal cord, nerve, muscle, and skin donation)

The African American Clinical Core, ongoing since 2008 in its current form (i.e., African Americans initially enrolled without dementia) is designed to support studies within and outside the RADC on a variety of topics including transitions in cognition, risk factors for cognitive decline and dementia, pathology, neuroimaging, and blood-based biomarkers. There is a large overlap of clinical variables with other cohort studies at the RADC, allowing investigators to merge across studies and increase sample size for African Americans in analyses.

Latino CORE Study (LATC) Overview paper

Design: Longitudinal, epidemiologic cohort study of cognitive decline and identifying risk factors of AD in older Latinos

Participants: Older adults who self-identify as Latino/Hispanic

  • Without known dementia at time of enrollment
  • Agreeing to annual clinical evaluation and blood draw
  • Agreeing optionally to brain donation

Recruitment began in October of 2015. Recruitment locations range from churches, subsidized senior housing facilities, retirement communities, Latino/Hispanic clubs, organizations, and social service centers that cater to seniors in various Chicago neighborhoods and outlying suburbs.

Center of Excellence on Disparities in HIV & Aging (CEDHA)

Design: Longitudinal, epidemiologic cohort study of aging among individuals with and without HIV

Participants: Self-identified African Americans and Whites, aged 50+ who are either HIV-positive or HIV-negative

  • Agreeing to annual clinical evaluation and blood draw
  • Includes RADC cognitive battery and similar risk factors
  • Stored serum and plasma available longitudinally

Recruitment began in 2012.

Pathology, Alzheimer's and Related Diseases Study (PARDoS)

Cross-sectional clinical-pathologic study of aging and dementia in diverse deceased Brazilians. The study is based at the Hospital do Servidor Público Estadual (HSPE) which is part of the Instituto de Assistência Médica do Servidor Público Estadual (IAMSPE).

Subjects: Individuals age 18+ who are autopsied at one of three locations: the San Andres Autopsy Service (SVO), the Guarulhos SVO, or HSPE. Eligible subjects are non-forensic cases that come to the SVO for an autopsy for cause of death, or people who die in HSPE.

  • Without established case of death
  • Next-of-kin agreeing to brain donation
  • Next-of-kin agreeing optionally to interview (clinical and functional information of deceased individual)

Biospecimen collection and clinical interviews for PARDoS began in July 2021.