About the MADC
2023 Walk to End Alzheimer's Group

Michigan Alzheimer's Disease Center

Committed to memory and aging research, clinical care, education and wellness

Established at Michigan Medicine and based in the Department of Neurology, the Michigan Alzheimer’s Disease Center aims to:

  • Conduct and support research on Alzheimer’s disease and related dementias
  • Promote state-of-the-art care and wellness for individuals and families affected by memory loss
  • Increase dementia awareness through collaborative education and outreach efforts
  • Work to address racial and ethnic disparities in Alzheimer’s disease and related dementias
  • Provide training and support to the next generation of clinicians and scientists
Michigan ADRC
map of usa with light and dark blue states to denote established and exploratory centers

States with NIA-Designated Centers include California, Oregon, Washington, Arizona, Texas, Kansas, Minnesota, Missouri, Wisconsin, Illinois, Michigan, Indiana, Kentucky, Ohio, North Carolina, Georgia, Alabama, Florida, New York, New Mexico, Pennsylvania, Maryland, Rhode Island and Connecticut.

States with Exploratory Centers are Nevada and Tennessee.

A significant portion of the Michigan Alzheimer’s Disease Center is dedicated to research funded by the National Institute on Aging within the National Institutes of Health (P30AG053760 and P30AG072931). Taking advantage of the University of Michigan’s deep infrastructure in dementia and aging research, the Michigan Alzheimer’s Disease Research Center fosters and enhances innovative research in Alzheimer’s disease and related dementias toward a better understanding of, and eventual preventive treatment for, these devastating diseases. Our center is one of 33 National Institutes of Health-funded Alzheimer’s Disease Research Centers (ADRCs) across the country. We focus on bringing a beyond beta amyloid approach to the larger ADRC research network, while also emphasizing the recruitment of underrepresented groups into dementia research. 

More information about the ADRC network is available here, and a registry of the centers is here.

A Regional Alzheimer's Center

The Michigan Alzheimer’s Disease Research Center is a truly regional Alzheimer’s Disease Research Center linking three universities across the state of Michigan: University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, Wayne State University in Detroit, and Michigan State University in Lansing and Grand Rapids. The regional presence of our Alzheimer’s Disease Research Center formally links efforts at all three major Michigan universities providing a critically important statewide resource for researchers, trainees, healthcare professionals and the broader public.

Michigan Alzheimer's Disease Research Center logo University of Michigan Block M Michigan State University logo Wayne State University logo
MADRC Structure

Led by Henry Paulson, MD, PhD, and Bruno Giordani, PhD, the administrative core is responsible for creating and implementing structural improvements within our center while managing staffing, finances, and research-related resources. This core helps to administratively sustain the many research studies and programs we support.

The clinical core, led by Benjamin Hampstead, PhD, and Judith Heidebrink, MD, MS, oversees the many research studies we support and creates new opportunities for innovative and cutting-edge research. This core also conducts U-M Memory and Aging Project (UM-MAP) visits. We have many research coordinators who conduct UM-MAP visits, as well as clinicians, phlebotomists, and imaging coordinators who manage the many other components of our studies.

The data management and statistical core, led by Kelly Bakulski, PhD, helps maintain our center's academic and research productivity by integrating and disseminating data to our research investigators. The data core manages our data privacy, analyzes our data for specific research projects, and facilitates data sharing nationally with the National Alzheimer’s Coordinating Center.

The neuropathology core facilitates our brain donation program. Andrew Lieberman, MD, PhD, serves as lead with Scott Counts, PhD, as co-investigator at Michigan State University. They work in partnership with the University of Michigan Brain Bank, directed by Sami Barmada, MD, PhD, to provide autopsy services to participating families at death and store and disseminate brain tissue resources to investigators nationwide.

The outreach, recruitment, and engagement core leads education and outreach efforts across the state. This core, led by Scott Roberts, PhD and Annalise Rahman-Filipiak, PhD, helps maintain successful relationships with community partners, including patients, families, research participants, and a variety of professional and lay community groups. They work to promote community participation in our research, as well as provide a variety of support, education, and wellness-based programs.

The neuroimaging core, led by Douglas Noll, PhD and Benjamin Hampstead, PhD, manages our MRI and PET scan efforts. The core works to characterize and share our imaging with investigators nationally and gather new vascular health measures to benefit the field.

The biomarker core, housed at Michigan State University’s Grand Rapids campus, is led by Nicholas Kanaan, PhD, and David Morgan, PhD. It focuses on providing measurements of established blood-based biomarkers and developing and implementing new biomarker measurements to identify Alzheimer’s disease and related dementias.

Led by Roger Albin, MD, Peter Lichtenberg, PhD, ABPP, and Irving Vega, PhD, the research education component is dedicated to supporting the next generation of dementia researchers. This component provides resources that support career development in interdisciplinary dementia research and enhanced mentoring and education events to support junior investigators.

NIH Master Logo
Part of a National Research Network

The Michigan ADRC is funded by the National Institute on Aging, National Institutes of Health and is one of 33 Alzheimer's Disease Research Centers across the country.

Funding Sources

The Michigan Alzheimer's Disease Center is funded by generous donors and the National Institutes of Health (P30AG072931).

Contact Us
We look forward to hearing from you!
2101 Commonwealth Blvd, Ste D
Ann Arbor, MI 48105
Phone:: 734-936-8803