The Alzheimer's Association has announced a $4.3 million grant to Washington University in St. Louis to accelerate the development of new therapies for Alzheimer's disease.

The grant will support a new phase of the university's landmark Dominantly Inherited Alzheimer's Network Trials Unit (DIAN-TU) aimed at accelerating the testing of potential Alzheimer's therapies and a new diagnostic approach in people with genetically based, younger-onset Alzheimer's disease using an innovative trial design that is being applied to Alzheimer's for the first time. In this next phase, DIAN-TU will implement Tau PET Imaging, a technique that uses positron emission tomography to visualize tau tangles, a hallmark of Alzheimer's disease, as well as home-based and more frequent cognitive testing.

Grant funds also will be used to establish an annual family conference where researchers can collect input on trial design features from families affected by dominantly inherited Alzheimer's disease and communicate the scientific and medical rationale of research studies through direct engagement with those affected by the disease.

"This funding will quicken efforts to launch and expand the DIAN-TU NexGen trial, creating the foundation for a new generation of clinical trials. DIAN-TU NexGen will accelerate both the testing of potential therapies and allow for the consideration and execution of combination therapy, which has the potential to make a real impact on those with the disease," said Alzheimer's Association chief science officer Maria Carrillo. "Having a treatment that can delay the onset of Alzheimer's is projected to reduce the number of individuals affected by the disease by two-point-five million within the first five years it is available."