The AIBL study will involve 1000 Australians aged over 60 years.

World leading researchers collaborate for Alzheimer's study

The Australian Imaging, Biomarker and Lifestyle (AIBL) Flagship Study of Ageing brings together world leading researchers to improve understanding of the causes and diagnosis of Alzheimer’s disease.

• 24 October 2006 | Updated 17 May 2012

• Partners
• Participants
• Researchers
• Outcomes

The Flagships Collaboration Fund has enabled the establishment of the Australian Imaging, Biomarker and Lifestyle (AIBL) Flagship Study.

The A$10 million study aims to improve understanding of the causes and diagnosis of Alzheimer’s disease, examine lifestyle and diet factors that may influence the onset of Alzheimer’s and help develop preventative strategies.

Partners

The Flagship Collaboration Fund is contributing A$3 million to the AIBL Study which involves CSIRO, through the Preventative Health National Research Flagship, working with:

• The University of Melbourne, Melbourne, Victoria
• Edith Cowan University, Perth, Western Australia
• Neurosciences Australia
• The Mental Health Research Institute of Victoria.

           
The three-year prospective longitudinal study of ageing involves recruiting 1 000 volunteers from a cross-section of Australia’s population for a ‘cohort’ study. It was launched on 14 November 2006 at Neurosciences Australia in Melbourne.

It is the largest study in the world involving Positron Emission Tomography (PET) scans using Pittsburgh Compound-B (PIB), a (PET) amyloid-imaging agent.

Participants

The study is recruiting 600 people aged 60 years and older from Victoria and 400 from Western Australia, ranging from healthy volunteers to people diagnosed with early stage Alzheimer’s disease.

Alzheimer’s Australia in Victoria and Western Australia are assisting with recruitment.

Researchers

The cluster will bring together researchers from a variety of disciplines across Australia, linking leading-edge science on Alzheimer’s disease with human population studies and data. It will integrate expertise in neuroimaging, biomarkers, psychometrics, and lifestyle interventions.

Professor David Ames, Professor of Psychiatry of Old Age, University of Melbourne, will lead the study. 

Outcomes

The study will help researchers develop and confirm a set of diagnostic markers biomarkers and psychometrics that can be used to objectively monitor disease progression and to develop hypotheses about diet and lifestyle factors that might delay the onset of this disease. 

Successful completion of this work will enable the design and conduct of extensive cohort studies that may lead to clinically proven preventative strategies for Alzheimer’s disease.

People aged over 60 years who are interested in participating in the survey, please phone (03) 9816 0485 in Melbourne or (08) 9346 6312 in Perth.

Find out more about the Australian Imaging Biomarkers and Lifestyle Flagship Study of Ageing.