Our Biomarker Laboratory is currently applying for UKAS Accreditation to enable us to provide a clinical service. We aim to be ready to provide cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) and blood testing for Alzheimer’s disease towards the end of 2025.
Laboratory Services
In 2024, we opened an in-house biomarker laboratory at the Eden Campus, near St Andrews. Our laboratory team test blood and CSF samples for Alzheimer’s disease biomarkers using a Roche Cobas e801 autoanalyser. Currently we are evaluating the newly emerging phosphorylated tau blood tests for AD in our IONA LCS participants and in other research cohorts. We are investigating whether these tests are as accurate in detecting early disease as the current diagnostic tools, such as brain scans.
The team is led by Dr Alison Green, a clinical biochemist with over 20 years’ experience in the development and evaluation of diagnostic tests for neurodegenerative diseases. She undertook her PhD “Brain-specific proteins in the diagnosis of dementia” at the National Hospital for Neurology, has published over 100 peer reviewed papers and is a world-expert in seed amplification assays. Dr Green is a fellow of the Royal College of Pathologists.
Once we have obtained our UKAS accreditation ISO 15189, we aim to provide a clinical service for CSF phosphorylated tau181 (pT181), total tau (ttau) and β-amyloid42 (Aβ42) for the NHS and other healthcare providers. Once the new blood test, pT217, obtained IVD status we aim to include that in our repertoire of available tests.
Clinical Trials for Alzheimer’s Disease Therapeutic Intervention
Those IONA LCS participants who register an interest in participating in clinical trials are matched to appropriate clinical trials for new tests and medicines, after a comprehensive personalised review. We currently have 7 clinical trials for therapeutic agents underway.
