Team
Who runs the Biobank
The Biobank is directed by the Biomarker Unit Lead of the Alzheimer’s Clinical Trials Consortium (ACTC) and operated day to day by the laboratory team at the USC Epstein Family Alzheimer’s Therapeutic Research Institute (ATRI) in San Diego.
Principal Investigator
Robert Rissman, PhD
Director, ATRI Biomarker Laboratory & Biorepository
Dr. Rissman is Professor of Physiology and Neuroscience and the W.M. Keck Endowed Chair in Medicine at the University of Southern California (USC). He is the founding Director of the Neuroscience Translational Research Division (NTRD) at USC’s San Diego campus, Alzheimer’s Therapeutic Research Institute (ATRI). Concurrently with his research, Dr. Rissman also serves as the Biomarker Unit Lead for the Alzheimer’s Clinical Trials Consortium (ACTC) and USC’s Alzheimer’s Disease Research Center. The NTRD is comprised by a wet laboratory space and a large biorepository of -80 freezers to store specimens from clinical trials and longitudinal cohort studies.
Using biobanked human specimens, animal and cell models, the goal of Dr. Rissman’s basic science research is to identify and validate plasma biomarkers for Alzheimer’s Disease and Related Disorders (ADRD) to better understand mechanisms of neurodegeneration and to streamline clinical trials recruitment. Work from Dr. Rissman’s lab has led to the validation of plasma biomarkers that predict AD brain neuropathology and progression of dementia and through analysis of plasma-derived extracellular vesicles, his group was also the first to demonstrate that TDP-43 protein within astrocyte extracellular vesicles can identify Limbic-predominant age-related TDP-43 encephalopathy (LATE). Using animal and cell culture models, Dr. Rissman’s lab is focused on understanding how synucleinopathy and other common comorbidities in AD can be identified and treated.
Laboratory operations
Sara Abdel-Latif
Manager, ATRI Biomarker Laboratory & Biorepository
Sara Abdel-Latif runs the day-to-day operation of the Biomarker Laboratory and Biorepository. Her team processes incoming specimens from clinical trials and longitudinal cohorts, runs the single-analyte and multiplex bioassays used for plasma and cerebrospinal fluid biomarker analysis, and manages study setup and site training.
She is the primary contact for investigators requesting samples or arranging to deposit them, and coordinates the practical side of a study’s relationship with the Biobank from first inquiry through to shipment.