The Rush Alzheimer’s Disease Center Laboratory has two major activities:
- Providing a state-of-the-art neuropathological diagnosis of Alzheimer’s disease by post-mortem evaluation
- Facilitating research into the neurobiologic causes of Alzheimer’s disease.
More than 1,400 brain autopsies have been conducted by the Rush Alzheimer's Disease Center Laboratory since its inception in 1987.
Pathological diagnosis
The Rush Alzheimer's Disease Center Laboratory continues to serve the Northern Illinois community through the post-mortem evaluation of brain tissue of persons from two sources:
- People clinically evaluated by RADC staff
- Participants in the Religious Orders Study and the Memory and Aging Project
A few evaluations are done for other smaller grants or through the Department of Neurological Sciences of Rush University Medical Center.
At no cost to the family, each patient’s brain is thoroughly evaluated neuropathologically to determine the cause of the dementia, and stored in the laboratory for possible use in research projects. Persons evaluated by RADC staff receive a copy of the neuropathology report and a letter from their physician;
Facilitation of research
The Rush Alzheimer's Disease Center Laboratory receives, processes, diagnoses and stores numerous brain specimens, cerebrospinal fluid samples, serum, DNA, and white blood cells. Tissue from the Rush Alzheimer's Disease Center Laboratory is used to support numerous externally funded research projects and is distributed to other neuroscientists throughout the United States. For information about the Rush Alzheimer's Disease Center Laboratory call (312) 563-3574.