University news

Researchers at the Universities of Glasgow and St. Andrews, who make up the Scottish Funding Council’s Brain Health ARC, are hosting a first-of-its-kind research challenge for teams from around the globe who are focused on new dementia breakthroughs.

Earlier this year, the Global Alzheimer's Platform Foundation® (GAP) – which is focused on global game-changing dementia research – chose Scotland to host the Bio-Hermes Biomarker Data Challenge 2024, a research competition using the most comprehensive set of dementia biomarker data from ground-breaking early blood testing studies for Alzheimer’s disease.

Choosing Scotland for its “unprecedented commitment to a broad and accelerated process”, the Scottish research community scored a coup in securing access to the data from GAP, with researchers acting quickly to use their unique know-how to launch the Bio-Hermes Biomarker Data Challenge.

Data for the challenge came from GAP’s Bio-Hermes study, which brought together the world’s leading digital and traditional cognitive assessment companies along with leading pharmaceutical partners to study cutting edge blood tests, brain scans and other tests for the diagnosis of dementia.

The first round of applicants for the Bio-Hermes Biomarker Data Challenge have been notified with many starting their projects, working to finalize them in time for a showcase event in 2025. The projects from these applicants are already reflecting the ambition of the Challenge to spark novel research and generate high-impact output, utilizing the unique data from the Bio-Hermes study.

The 25 applications are comprised of teams at various career stages, with many teams reflecting a multidisciplinary approach. These teams include 121 individual researchers across 28 institutions and 18 locations. The institutions from Scotland include Glasgow, St Andrews, Edinburgh, Strathclyde, University of West of Scotland, Dundee, Aberdeen, from the United Kingdom: Oxford, Cambridge, Cardiff, University College London, Imperial College London, St George's London, Manchester. There are also researchers from Germany, the Netherlands, Greece, Romania, and India, making this a true international endeavor.

Some examples of approved projects include:

• A diverse team of researchers spanning Scotland, the UK, and Europe aims to assess how socioeconomic factors, such as education, contribute to shielding certain individuals from Alzheimer's dementia and mild cognitive impairment, even when they possess a biological predisposition. This investigation, conducted within the Bio-Hermes cohort, which represents a broad demographic spectrum, seeks to understand the concept of resilience recently identified in this population. The insights gained will be instrumental in shaping policies aimed at preventing dementia.

• A second team of researchers, equally varied in expertise, will delve into the potential moderating role of cardiovascular risk in the onset of Alzheimer's dementia. By leveraging the extensive array of blood biomarkers available in the Bio-Hermes cohort, this comprehensive study aims to elucidate whether cardiovascular risk influences the likelihood or specific type of dementia that emerges (e.g., vascular dementia). This innovative research holds significant promise for shaping policies related to dementia screening and prevention.

 

Reflecting on the Bio-Hermes Data Challenge journey so far, Professor Terry Quinn, David Cargill Chair in Geriatric Medicine, University of Glasgow, said: “When we launched the Data Challenge at the beginning of the year, I knew we would receive innovative and high-quality submissions. However, I did not anticipate just how enthusiastically teams would embrace the Challenge.

“I have been honoured, and humbled, to be part of a project that is bringing together some of the brightest minds in the Scottish, UK and International dementia research communities. We have demonstrated what can be achieved when cutting edge data and enthusiastic researchers are brought together. I am excited to see what the teams will produce and look forward to seeing the outputs from the Challenge shared in the major dementia conferences and journals.”

John Dwyer, the President of GAP, said “It is inspiring to see the impressive number of rich applications that were evaluated and awarded participation in the Bio-Hermes Biomarker Challenge. We welcome the brilliant researchers from several disciplines who want to "dig in" and use the Bio-Hermes data to explore the pressing questions confronting research into biomarkers and therapies for Alzheimer's disease and related dementias. We encourage them to ask and answer questions that have yet to be posed with unencumbered creativity--this is why we devised the Challenge. I look forward to seeing what is next, and again appreciate the hard work and leadership of the Scottish research community in making the Challenge a reality.”

Data from the more than 80,000 test results from the Bio-Hermes study are available to researchers in Scotland via the AD Workbench from the Alzheimer’s Disease Data Initiative.

Niranjan Bose, Interim Executive Director of the Alzheimer’s Disease Data Initiative said: “We are excited to see this progress and look forward to the outputs and insights produced by the Bio-Hermes Biomarker Data Challenge. We thank our partners at GAP for their commitment to groundbreaking collaborative research and making this important set of biomarker data available to researchers to accelerate progress in disease prediction and diagnosis.”

More than 20 members from the Scottish Parliament publicly supported the decision for Scotland to host the Bio-Hermes Biomarker Data Challenge, underscoring the significance of this research competition. Such support acknowledges the promise in what is seen as ground-breaking early blood testing studies for Alzheimer’s disease. With the enthusiasm surrounding the Challenge, a second round of applicants are being considered, and applications will be reviewed later this Spring.

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Enquiries: ali.howard@glasgow.ac.uk or elizabeth.mcmeekin@glasgow.ac.uk

First published: 9 September 2024