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NIH awards $2 million grant for Alzheimer’s disease research using data mining
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The NIH awarded Heng Huang, MS, PhD, a professor in the computer science and engineering department at the University of Texas at Arlington, a 5-year, $2 million grant to assess individuals’ probability of developing Alzheimer’s disease using imaging genomics.
Huang will develop data-mining techniques to analyze genotype and phenotype data from the Alzheimer’s Disease Neuroimaging Initiative (ADNI) cohort to identify biomarkers that may be used for early prediction of Alzheimer’s disease.
Heng Huang
“Most people with mild cognitive impairment eventually contract Alzheimer’s, but some go back to normal. We want to predict [mild cognitive impairment] based on genomic information so that we may accurately predict whether they will get Alzheimer’s or not,” Huang said in a press release. “From a biomedical standpoint, this is an opportunity to have very good knowledge of the genome technique and neuroimaging. From the computing side, we'll be using very advanced algorithms to understand and study the brain.”
Most existing studies use a single genetic or neuroimaging data source, according to Huang, and longitudinal data, as well as the human brain, changes approximately every 6 months. To address this, Huang will build computational models and software to incorporate biological knowledge into existing data sets.
Researchers from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill will contribute to clinical studies on the genetics behind the progression of mild cognitive impairment to Alzheimer’s disease and multidimensional biomarker detection of genetic and phenotypic biomarkers.
“Dr. Huang’s research in mild cognitive impairment and its relationship to Alzheimer’s disease has the potential to change the way we view this disease and how we treat it,” Duane B. Dimos, PhD, vice president for research at the University of Texas at Arlington, said in the release. “The innovations in health care brought about by this research can help people live longer, healthier, and happier lives. This research will help the University advance its work in the health sciences and will lead to important discoveries that support our strategic focus on health and the human condition.”