Boston University Alzheimer's Disease Research Center Clinical Core: Infrastructure to facilitate research on post-traumatic Alzheimer's disease and related dementias.

We describe the rationale, methodology, and design of the Boston University Alzheimer's Disease Research Center (BU ADRC) Clinical Core (CC). The CC characterizes a longitudinal cohort of participants with/without brain trauma to characterize the clinical presentation, biomarker profiles, and risk factors of post-traumatic Alzheimer's disease (AD) and AD-related dementias (ADRD), including chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE). Participants complete assessments of traumatic brain injury (TBI) and repetitive head impacts (RHIs); annual Uniform Data Set (UDS) and supplementary evaluations; digital phenotyping; annual blood draw; magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and lumbar puncture every 3 years; electroencephalogram (EEG); and amyloid and/or tau positron emission tomography (PET) on a subset. As of 3/2025, the CC consists of 467 participants (mean age: 65.6, 50.1% female), including 163 RHI and 302 TBI who completed a UDS 3.0 baseline visit. Common sources of RHI included football (n = 95), soccer (n = 26), ice hockey (n = 17), and military service (n = 46). Most TBIs were mild (97.7%). Eighty-nine percent agreed to brain donation. The BU ADRC CC will facilitate research, education, and training on post-traumatic AD/ADRD. HIGHLIGHTS: The Boston University Alzheimer's Disease Research Center (ADRC) Clinical Core facilitates unique research, education, and training on Alzheimer's disease and Alzheimer's disease-related dementias (AD/ADRD) with a focus on post-traumatic AD/ADRD, including chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE). We summarize the rationale, mission, study design, and recent updates for the Clinical Core. As of March 2025, the Clinical Core includes a longitudinal cohort of 467 participants enriched for repetitive head impacts (∼1/3) and traumatic brain injury (∼1/3) exposure who span the cognitive continuum, with most having available fluid and neuroimaging biomarker data and agreeing to brain donation (89%).