New grant funds AI search for genetic targets to treat Alzheimer's

With a new $6.2 million, five-year grant from the National Institute on Aging, researchers at Case Western Reserve University will use artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning to identify possible genetic targets to treat Alzheimer's disease.

The intent, said principal investigator Jonathan L. Haines, chair of the Department of Population and Quantitative Health Sciences at the Case Western Reserve School of Medicine, is to provide doctors and drugmakers new information that could prevent, slow or even cure the disease.

Medications approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to treat Alzheimer's disease work by clearing abnormal protein clusters-called amyloid plaques-that build up between nerve cells (neurons) in the brain, disrupting cell-to-cell communication.

While the medications may slow cognitive decline in mild cases, they often have serious side effects and don't address the disease's root causes.