Dementia Clinical Research Database

The Toronto Dementia Research Alliance (TDRA) Dementia Clinical Research Database: A Platform in Neurodegenerative Diseases.
Our foundational project is the creation of a Dementia Clinical-Research Database by employing standardized clinical, cognitive assessments and neuroimaging reporting across the academic memory clinics in Toronto. By embedding a research platform within the daily process of clinical care, it can eliminate duplication and provide the following information in real-time:
  • Enhance the understanding of disease mechanisms and patterns of progression across all dementias
  • Enhance the diagnosis, patient management, and participation in larger-scale research studies
  • Enable the automatic identification of appropriate subjects for participation in clinical trials through the linkage of the enrollment research criteria of the studies
  • Develop the infrastructure to facilitate not only investigator-initiated but also industry-initiated trials

To accomplish this goal, we have:

  • Established a standardized intake/evaluation form, a cognitive assessment battery – the Toronto Cognitive Assessment (TorCA), and brain imaging protocols.
  • Normed the TorCA in over 300 people from their 50s to 80s and have demonstrated that it is more sensitive than MoCA to detect amnestic mild cognitive impairment. We have programmed the TorCA on an iPAD for not only easy administration but also automated determination if the results are normal or are suggestive of MCI.
  • Programmed the intake form on OpenClinica
  • Created linkage of deep clinical imaging endophenotyping with the detailed cognitive and neuropsychological assessments
  • Started to develop an automatic consultation letter for referring physicians derived from the information intake/evaluation form at the initial point of assessment

Participating Sites: (** Enrolment sites)

  • ** Baycrest
  • ** University Health Network (UHN)
  • ** Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre
  • ** Centre for Addiction and Mental Health
  • St. Michael’s Hospital
  • Women’s College Hospital
  • University of Toronto
  • Institute for Clinical Evaluative Sciences (ICES)
  • Queens University
  • Ryerson University

Principal Investigators:
Drs. Morris Freedman, David Tang-Wai, Stephen Strother

Co-investigators:
Sandra Black, Mario Masellis, Corinne Fischer, Alan Moody, Paula Rochon, Carmela Tartaglia, Nathan Herrmann, Barry Greenberg, Donald Weaver, Ron Keren, Barry Goldlist , Uri Wolf, Paul Verhoeff, Gary Naglie, Randy McIntosh, William Reichman, Sanjeev Kumar, Tarek Rajji, Benoit Mulsant, Suvendrini Lena, Sean Symons, Krista Lanctot, Walter Montanera, Angie Troyer, Tom Schweizer, Kathryn Stokes, Mary Pat McAndrews, Prathiba Shammi, Linda Mah, Wendy Lou, Kevin Thorpe, Pascal Tyrrell, Bruce Pollock, Alex Kiss, Malcolm Binns, Tamara Arenovich, Susan Bronskill, Cheryl Grady, General Leung, Sapna Rawal, David Mikulis

Associated Investigators:
Tom Gee, Kenneth Evans, Ann Cavoukian, Brian Murray