치매극복연구개발사업단

KDRC - Asan Medical Center - Dominantly Inherited Alzheimer Network 

Memorandum of Understanding Agreement

-DIAN-Koreare-promotion for treatment and prevention of dementia-

Korea Dementia Research Center (KDRC) is pleased to announce it has signed a memorandum of understanding with Asan Medical Center (AMC) and Dominantly Inherited Alzheimer Network (DIAN).

The three organizations will work together to re-promote DIAN-Korea and to share data on patients and research and to participate in international clinical research.

Based at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, USA, DIAN is an international consortium launched in 2008 to find solutions to treat or prevent the Dominantly Inherited Alzheimer’s disease (DIAD) and, potentially, all form of Alzheimer’s. DIAD is a rare form of Alzheimer’s that causes memory loss and dementia in  individuals ― typically while they are in their 30s to 50s. The disease affects less than 1% of the total population of people with Alzheimer’s.

In 2015, AMC participated in DIAN with the assistance of the Korean government and conducted international collaborative research. In 2021, AMC was nominated for the Korea Health Technology R&D Project, and DIAN-Korea was re-promoted.

AMC plans to track various biomarker changes of the patients and families suffering from DIAD through cognitive function, MRI, PET, blood, and cerebrospinal fluid tests every one to two years.

Professor Jae-Hong Lee, Principal Investigator & Neurologist at AMC, said: “The study of DIAD can be expanded to future therapy research aimed at controlling Alzheimer’s disease even before clinical symptoms occur in the field of Alzheimer’s disease which lacks fundamental care. If all generation related to you have a familial Alzheimer’s disease, it is important to check whether you carry the disease through genetic tests.”

Professor Inhee Mook-Jung, Director of KDRC, said: “There are very few patients suffering from Alzheimer’s disease due to genetic factors, but the study of these patients can greatly contribute to identifying the causes and progress of the late-onset Alzheimer’s disease. The collaborative research with DIAN could provide more patients and research data, which allow us to take a step closer to developing prevention technologies as well as early diagnosis and treatment of dementia.”

Professor Randall J. Bateman, Director of DIAN, said: “DIAN is a global international effort to identify the causes of Alzheimer’s disease, and ways that Alzheimer’s can be stopped. The DIAN-Korea will support research for Korean families who have DIAD, and contribute to understanding and breakthroughs that will improve the diagnosis, treatment, and prevention of Alzheimer’s disease.  These efforts will be enabled with national support of DIAN-Korea and a commitment to collaboration by the Korean doctors and researchers of Korean DIAD families. The DIAN global community welcomes DIAN-Korea.”