Presymptomatic focus
Designed to study disease biology before overt clinical symptoms.
PREVENT-AD
A longitudinal window into Alzheimer’s disease before symptoms begin.
PREVENT-AD is a McGill/Douglas research platform designed to study the earliest biological changes associated with Alzheimer’s disease in cognitively unimpaired older adults at increased risk.
Scientific mission
PREVENT-AD provides a unique opportunity to examine how molecular, inflammatory, genetic, imaging, and cognitive markers evolve before the onset of clinical symptoms.
The program integrates longitudinal follow-up, deep phenotyping, biospecimens, neuroimaging, genetics, cognitive assessment, and emerging proteomic technologies to advance prevention-oriented research.
What makes PREVENT-AD distinctive
Integrated longitudinal cohort science
Longitudinal design
Repeated measures support trajectory-based analyses over time.
Biospecimens
CSF and plasma biomarkers support molecular profiling.
Imaging
PET and MRI provide spatial markers of amyloid, tau, structure, and function.
Genetics
Genetic susceptibility is integrated with biomarker and cognitive trajectories.
Prevention
Findings inform risk stratification and prevention-oriented research.
Emerging scientific themes
From risk to mechanism
- Early amyloid and tau biology
- Neuroinflammation and innate immune activation
- Synaptic vulnerability and neuronal integrity
- Plasma and CSF biomarker trajectories
- APOE and genetic modifiers
- PET/MRI imaging signatures
- Prevention-oriented risk stratification