UCSF, UCLA, UCD & Olive View - UCLA Medical Center

The UCSF MarkVCID site is located at the UCSF Memory and Aging Center in San Francisco, CA. Dr. Joel Kramer is the Principal Investigator at UCSF. Dr. Kramer is a Professor of Neuropsychology in Neurology, the Director of the Memory and Aging Center Neuropsychology program, and the John Douglas French Alzheimer's Foundation Endowed Professor at UCSF. He has been extensively involved in studying cognitive changes associated with brain disorders for the past three decades and has co-authored widely used neuropsychological measures of memory and executive functioning. Much of his work has been devoted to identifying the different ways in which aging and neurodegenerative diseases affect memory and other abilities and in utilizing these differences to improve differential diagnosis in the clinic.

The UC Davis MarkVCID site is located at the UC Davis Medical Health Center in Sacramento, CA and Walnut Creek, CA. The Principal Investigators are Drs. Charles DeCarli and Pauline Maillard. Dr. DeCarli is a professor of Neurology at UC Davis and Director of the UC Davis Alzheimer's Disease Research Center. His research interests focus on using neuroimaging techniques to examine the biological underpinnings of brain structure and function during aging and in the presence of diseases such as cerebrovascular and Alzheimer's disease. Dr. Maillard is an associate professional researcher in the Neuroimaging Core for the UC Davis Alzheimer's Disease Research Center (ADRC). Her research interests focus on better understanding trajectories of cognitive decline and brain differences in association with vascular risk.

The UCLA MarkVCID site is located at the Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center in Los Angeles, California. The study's Principal Investigators are Drs. Jason Hinman and Keith Vossel. Dr. Hinman is a physician-scientist and an active member of the UCLA Comprehensive Stroke Center. His NIH-funded research lab studies the molecular interface of stroke and dementia, focusing on bringing new diagnostics and therapies to patients recovering from stroke. Dr. Vossel is a Professor of Neurology, Director of the Mary S. Easton Center for Alzheimer’s Research and Care at UCLA, and Michael M. Minchin, Jr., President J.D. French Alzheimer’s Foundation Endowed Chair. Dr. Vossel investigates Alzheimer’s disease, dementia with Lewy bodies, and related disorders with a focus on brain rhythm abnormalities and translational therapies.

The Olive View – UCLA Medical Center MarkVCID site is located in the Memory Disorders Clinic in Sylmar, CA. The Memory Disorders Clinic is under the Leadership of Alejandra Sanchez Lopez, MD. Dr. Sánchez holds a dual appointment as Assistant Clinical Professor in the Neurology Department and Geriatric Medicine Division. She is a bilingual (Spanish/English) board-certified geriatrician and fellowship trained in Behavioral Neurology with passion and expertise in cognitive impairment and neurodegenerative diseases.

Study Recruitment

UCSF will be recruiting participants from the Memory and Aging Center (MAC) Outreach Program, which offers multilingual and multicultural outreach to an African American cohort, a Latinx cohort, and an Asian American cohort. Addressing recruitment for the full range of cognitive status in participants has involved receiving referrals on participants from the UCSF MAC clinic who present with vascular risk factors in tandem with cognitive

impairment or mild dementia, as well as co-enrolling participants who are involved in other studies at the MAC, including the ADRC and the Mechanisms of Executive Decline in Normal Aging studies.

UC Davis's recruitment efforts will involve the UC Davis ADRC, which is focused on recruiting older adults of varying cognitive abilities, including normal cognition, mild cognitive impairment, and mild Alzheimer's disease. Strategies to recruit participants from diverse populations are implemented through various community interactions and events. The Sacramento site will be dedicated to recruiting people from the Hispanic community and the Walnut Creek site will be dedicated to recruitment of Black and African American communities.

UCLA's recruitment strategy will focus on the Mary S. Easton Center for Alzheimer's Disease Research at UCLA, working to recruit older adults of varying cognitive abilities, including normal cognition, mild cognitive impairment, mild dementia, and Alzheimer’s disease. UCLA will also recruit participants of diverse populations through the UCLA ADRC Potential Subject Pool, advertisements to the general public, clinic referrals, and community outreach and events.

Olive View – UCLA Medical Center will focus on recruiting participants from the Hispanic community in the San Fernando Valley. Olive View - UCLA Medical Center is committed to diversity, inclusion, equity, and support for patients and families living with Alzheimer's disease and related disorders.

Study Team