What we do
The goal of the Cleveland Alzheimer’s Disease Research Center (CADRC) is to increase the speed of research being done on aging related diseases. The Clinical Core, led by Dr. Brian S. Appleby and Dr. Jagan Pillai, enrolls participants diagnosed with different forms of dementia, including Alzheimer’s disease, Lewy body dementia, and atypical dementia. We also enroll people without any diagnosis of dementia. The Clinical Core staff follows participants over time, collecting detailed clinical information, biospecimens, and imaging data with the goal of better understanding the biology of different forms of dementia.
The Clinical Core includes physicians and clinical researchers from Cleveland Clinic, University Hospitals, and Louis Stokes Cleveland Veterans Affairs Medical Center. Together they coordinate the many elements that make up participation in the CADRC, including scheduling visits, making sure that participants and their families understand what it means to be in the study (the informed consent process), administering a neurologic exam and neuropsychological tests of memory and thinking, and taking detailed histories of the participant’s health and family background. Clinical Core personnel also schedule special procedures– lumbar punctures, magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and positron emission tomography (PET scans)—and complete data entry so that all the information about every participant is safely stored and accessible.
Learn more about neuroimaging in dementia research
Meet the team
Dr. Peijun Chen
Co-Investigator
Dr. Mohamed Elkasaby
Co-Investigator
Dr. Alexsandra Kovacevich
Co-Investigator
Dr. Paula K Ogrocki
Co-Investigator
Dr. Muralidhar Pallaki
Co-Investigator
Dr. Betsy Pehek
Co-Investigator
Dr. Stephen Rao
Co-Investigator
Dr. Kasia Rothenberg
Co-Investigator
Rajeet Shrestha
Co-Investigator
Nicole Cobb
Research Coordinator
Jasmine Crook
Research Coordinator
Natalie Ehret
Research Coordinator
Parianne Fatica
Clinical Research Specialist
MJ Helppi
Research Coordinator
Amy Hessel
Nurse Practitioner
Lyndsi Powell
Clinical Research Specialist II
Susie Sami
Clinical Research Specialist III
Maria Toth
Registered Nurse
Nilima Patel
Research Coordinator
Marianne Sanders
Registered Nurse
Gordon Williams
Clinical Research Specialist II
Matt Zgodinski
Nurse Practitioner
Brian Smith
Project Manager
