Deep & Frequent Phenotyping Study (DFP)

The DFP study tracks biological and cognitive markers of Alzheimer's disease across time to find the best combination to detect disease change.

Title: Deep and Frequent Phenotyping; Combinatorial Biomarkers for Dementia Experimental Medicine

Short title: Deep and Frequent Phenotyping Study

Sponsor: University of Oxford

Chief Investigator: Dr Vanessa Raymont, University of Oxford

Edinburgh PI: Prof Craig Ritchie/Dr Catherine Pennington

Ethics ref: 17/SC/0315

Funder: National Institute for Health Research and Medical Research Council

Dates (estimated): August 2021 - March 2025

Synopsis: DFP will combine established and novel markers of Alzheimer's disease to find the best set of markers that detect disease change in people who have and don't have risk factors, such as brain amyloid, for Alzheimer's disease.  This data will help inform future clinical research studies on the best methods to use for their studies - saving time and increasing efficiency.

The study will recruit 250 people nationally across six sites at Edinburgh, South London, West London, Newcastle, Manchester, and study sponsor, the University of Oxford.

Study participants will undergo extensive (deep) and repeated (frequent) biological and cognitive testing including genetics, amyloid testing, memory and thinking tasks, brain imaging, ophthalmology, electroencephalography, magnetoencephalography, and gait analysis. 

Aims: The study aims to find the best combination of markers to detecting Alzheimer's disease early. The results will influence the design of future trials in dementia research.  

Recruiting: Yes.  DFP is open to people, 60 years or older, without dementia. To register your interest go to the DFP website or contact Edinburgh Dementia Prevention.

Links and Publications: Published papers from the DFP study on Pubmed.