Biomarkers Discovery

The Harvard NeuroDiscovery Center has launched a new Biomarkers Discovery program, dedicated to discovering and validating biomarkers for neurodegenerative diseases. 

Recent progress reported by Harvard NeuroDiscovery Center members and many others suggests that Parkinson's and Alzheimer's disease provide particularly promising targets for biomarker discovery. The first phase of this new program is the development of a major new sample repository that will be accessible to investigators wishing to identify or validate biomarkers for AD or PD. Patient and control samples will be collected according to vigorously defined protocol designed to minimize inter-sample noise. The second phase of the program, to identify and to confirm proposed biomarkers, will be launched as soon as the repository reached a critical size.

To gain access to the many AD and PD patients that visit our community’s clinics, we have partnered with the Memory Disorders Units and Movement Disorders Units based within Brigham & Women's Hospital and Massachusetts General Hospital. Patients that meet our selection criteria will be asked to donate blood samples that will be used to generate DNA serum, plasma and cell lines. When possible we will also collect cerebral spinal fluid. We anticipate collecting samples from 800 subjects and spousal controls.

Sample Processing/Storage 

Samples will be processed and stored in two locations. Whole blood, plasma, serum and cell pellets will be processed and stored in the laboratory of Clemens Scherzer at 65 Landsdowne Street; DNA and cell lines will be processed and stored at the Center for Human Genetics Research (CHGR) under the leadership of Jim Gusella at MGH.

Clinical Data

Significant clinical data will be available for many of the subjects that will donate samples. Anonymized clinical data will linked to the emerging biomarker data and made available to approved investigators. We are currently discussing the best approach to streamline the data to make it easily and systematically accessible.  

Access

All samples and clinical data will be made available to approved investigators within the NeuroDiscovery research community. We will establish a transparent process for approving proposed studies. Oversight of the samples will rest with a new Biomarkers Working Group.

The Biomarkers Discovery Program launched in October 2007.