Genetics and Pathobiology of Vascular Cognitive Impairment (R01)
Funding Contact: NINDS Funding Coordinator
Funding Categories: Neurogenetics
Brief Description:
The purpose of this FOA with set-aside funds (PAS) is to invite applications to study the biological basis of vascular cognitive
impairment (VCI). VCI causes a burden of illness similar to that caused by Alzheimer’s disease (AD), but has been far less
well-studied. Recently, however, some important strides have been made in understanding the etiology of VCI. These include
the discovery of a monogenic form of vascular dementia, CADASIL, and identification of the causative gene as Notch 3. In
addition, MRI and other pathological data have provided a clearer delineation of the various clinical subtypes of VCI, and
awareness of the synergistic interaction between vascular and classical Alzheimer’s pathologies in producing cognitive impairment.
The goal of this FOA is to build on these first critical achievements to obtain a better understanding of the cellular and
molecular mechanisms causing vascular, neural, and glial dysfunction in human VCI and animal models of VCI.