UMass Medical School researchers get $3.3M Alzheimer's study grant

Photo | Courtesy | UMass Medical School Dr. John Haran

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Researchers at UMass Medical School in Worcester have received a $3.3-million federal grant for a study on influences on those living with Alzheimer's disease.

The four-year grant from the National Institute on Aging, part of the U.S. National Institutes of Health, will enable UMass researchers to try to better understand how the gut's microbiome influences cognitive functioning among those with Alzheimer's. UMass announced the grant on Sept. 29.

The study, led by Dr. John Haran, will follow 260 elderly participants in the Worcester area for two years in what he said will enable researchers to better connect potential causation between the body's microbiome, including bacteria and viruses, and Alzheimer's. Roughly half of the participants will have Alzheimer's.

UMass researchers have reason to believe there's an important connection. Research published last year by Haran and Dr. Beth McCormick, a microbiology professor, found residents in nursing homes with Alzheimer’s have distinctly different gut microbiomes than residents with other forms of dementia.

One aim of the study will be potentially finding what parts of the body's microbiome can help people avoid the disease.