The Duke/UNC ADRC oversees the Memory & Cognitive Health Study, a sub-study of the MURDOCK Community Registry and Biorepository. The parent study was a longitudinal cohort recruited from a 20-Zip Code region in the Southeastern United States (U.S.) that is centered in the city of Kannapolis, NC and encompasses Cabarrus County, NC.

The MHS was a nested sub-cohort study of 1595 individuals who were 65 years of age or older in 2009. They received baseline cognitive assessment between 2009-2012 (Wave 1) and follow-up testing (Wave 2) from 2012-2016.

Clinical assessments included a brief battery of neurocognitive tests comprised of:

• MoCA
• CERAD Word List Learning and Delayed Memory test
• Trail Making Test Part B

along with a measure of self-reported cognitive function (Mailed Cognitive Function Screening Instrument MCFSI) used in normal aging and preclinical AD research. Participants also completed standard MURDOCK health history questionnaires. Peripheral blood samples were drawn at each wave. Plasma, serum, and whole blood samples were stored and available for analysis. Genotyping has been completed for APOE, TOMM40 structural variants, and for 23 other AD associated genetic snps.