Alzheimer’s disease (AD) affects more than six million Americans and is especially common in the Deep South, including Alabama, where rates of chronic health conditions that increase AD risk are among the highest in the country. Yet, most of the brain tissue used for AD research in the United States comes from people who lived in other regions, mainly the Northeast and West Coast, and from populations that do not reflect those most affected by the disease, including Black individuals in the Deep South. This gap makes it harder for scientists to fully understand how AD develops and progresses in the people who bear the greatest burden.
To address this major disparity, we propose to expand a regionally representative human brain bank at the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB). Through partnerships with the Jefferson County Medical Examiner’s Office and the UAB Autopsy Service, we will collect donated brain tissue from individuals who pass away both inside and outside of the hospital. With the consent of next-of-kin, we will gather tissue from people of diverse racial, socioeconomic, and health backgrounds, including both AD cases and unaffected comparison individuals. Each donated brain will undergo careful, high-quality neuropathological evaluation and will be made available to researchers at UAB and beyond through an established request system.
By increasing the number and diversity of postmortem brain samples from the Deep South, this project will improve the accuracy and relevance of AD research nationwide. Over two years, we expect to add approximately 60 well-characterized donors to the UAB brain bank. This expanded resource will help scientists identify disease mechanisms, develop better treatments, and ultimately improve health outcomes for communities most affected by Alzheimer’s disease.
