About the ISAVRAD Consortium
The mission of the ISAVRAD Consortium is to take maximal advantage of the unique scientific opportunity created by the coronavirus pandemic, to study the interaction between a definable and time-limited risk-inducing environmental event (exposure to the virus) and genomic variation, on the occurrence of cognitive decline and Alzheimer’s disease and related dementias (ADRD) in large cohorts of older adults from underrepresented minorities in the United States and ancestral groups in Africa and South America.
The five data collection sites will focus on specific under-represented populations:
Argentina: Amerindian
Nigeria: Yoruba
New York: Hispanic and African American
Texas: Mexican American
Washington: Non-tribal Amerindian
Current projects of the ISAVRAD Consortium
Project 1. Longitudinal Epidemiology of Cognitive Decline and Alzheimer’s Dementia after SARS-CoV-2 Infection
Principal Investigator: Gabriel A. de Erausquin, MD, PhD
Co-Investigators: Chen-Pin Wang, PhD, and Jorge Zwir, PhD
Project 2. Gene×Environment Interactions on Risk of Cognitive Decline after SARS-CoV-2 Infection
Principal Investigator: John Blangero, PhD
Co-Investigators: Vincent Diego, PhD, Sarah Williams-Blangero, PhD, Marcio Almeida, PhD, and Gladys Maestre, PhD
Project 3. Neural Signatures of COVID-19
Principal Investigator: Peter T. Fox, MD
Co-Investigators: Sidath Kumarapperuma, PhD, Felipe S Salinas, PhD, John Moring, PhD, and Mohamad Habes, PhD
Project 4. Biomarker Project
Principal Investigator: Richard B. Lipton, MD
Co-Investigators: Mindy J. Katz, Ali Ezzati, MD, Cuiling Wang, Carlos Cruchaga, PhD, Tiffany Kautz, PhD
University sites
Albert Einstein College of Medicine
Alzheimer’s Disease and Related Disorder Association, Inc.
Foundation for the Fight against Neurological and Psychiatric Disorders in Minorities
University of Ibadan
University of Miami
University of Pennsylvania
University of Washington
University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio
University of Texas Rio Grande Valley
Washington University