Improving Prognostic Confidence in Neurodegenerative Diseases Causing Dementia Using Peripheral Biomarkers and Integrative Modeling (CRND TorCA)

November 17, 2025 updated by: Carmela Tartaglia, University Health Network, Toronto
To develop a model to predict disease progression in a large cohort of patients across a variety of neurodegenerative diseases, including Mild Cognitive Impairment (MCI) and dementia due to any neurodegenerative disease, including Alzheimer's Disease (AD), Lewy Body Disease (LBD), Vascular Disease (VaD) and Frontotemporal lobar degeneration (FTLD).

Study Overview

Status

Status

Indicates the current recruitment status or the expanded access status.
Recruiting

Conditions

Conditions

The disease, disorder, syndrome, illness, or injury that is being studied. On ClinicalTrials.gov, conditions may also include other health-related issues, such as lifespan, quality of life, and health risks.

Detailed Description

The goal of this study is to create a model to predict disease progression in patients with mild cognitive impairments and forms of dementia. To accomplish this, the current study will evaluate different tests including: brain imaging (MRI), body fluid samples (blood and cerebrospinal fluid), skin biopsy, cognitive ability, and behavioural questionnaires. The study team hopes that this information can be used to guide diagnosis and better predict disease progression in patients with mild cognitive impairment and and early dementia.

Study Type

Study Type

Describes the nature of a clinical study. Study types include interventional studies (also called clinical trials), observational studies (including patient registries), and expanded access.
Observational

Enrollment (Estimated)

Enrollment

The number of participants in a clinical study. The "anticipated" enrollment is the target number of participants that the researchers need for the study.
500

Contacts and Locations

This section provides the contact details for those conducting the study, and information on where this study is being conducted.

Study Contact

Study Contact

The name and contact information for the person who can answer enrollment questions for a clinical study. Each location where the study is being conducted may also have a specific contact, who may be better able to answer those questions.

Study Locations

  • Canada
    • Ontario
      • North York, Ontario, Canada, M6A 2E1
        • Not yet recruiting
        • Baycrest
        • Contact:
        • Sub-Investigator:
          • Morris Freedman, MD
      • Toronto, Ontario, Canada, M4N 3M5
        • Not yet recruiting
        • Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre
        • Contact:
        • Sub-Investigator:
          • Sandra E Black, MD
      • Toronto, Ontario, Canada, M5T 2S8
        • Recruiting
        • Toronto Western Hospital, University Health Network
        • Contact:
        • Principal Investigator:
          • Maria C Tartaglia, MD
      • Toronto, Ontario, Canada, M6J 1H1
        • Not yet recruiting
        • Centre for Addiction and Mental Health
        • Sub-Investigator:
          • Sanjeev Kumar, MD
        • Sub-Investigator:
          • Tarek Rajji, MD
        • Contact:

Participation Criteria

Researchers look for people who fit a certain description, called eligibility criteria. Some examples of these criteria are a person's general health condition or prior treatments.

Eligibility Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

The key requirements that people who want to participate in a clinical study must meet or the characteristics they must have. Eligibility criteria consist of both inclusion criteria (which are required for a person to participate in the study) and exclusion criteria (which prevent a person from participating). Types of eligibility criteria include whether a study accepts healthy volunteers, has age or age group requirements, or is limited by sex.

Ages Eligible for Study

  • Adult
  • Older Adult

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

No

Sampling Method

Non-Probability Sample

Study Population

Individuals who have been diagnosed with a mild cognitive impairment or early stage dementia that are between the ages of 30-95 can participate in the study as long as they have a study partner who can answer questionnaires at their 3 study visits and can complete a majority of assessments.

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

  • Possible or probable diagnosis of MCI or early dementia
  • Age 30-95
  • Study partner who has some weekly contact with patient. Some of the neuropsychological assessment require collateral from close contacts to assess cognition and functioning. Since neurodegenerative diseases can be associated with reduced cognition, including reduced awareness of one's own impairments, participants will be assessed for their capacity to consent at all study visits.
  • Must, in the opinion of the site investigator, be able to complete most study procedures.

Exclusion Criteria:

  • Participants who are not able to complete the majority of assessments in the opinion of the PI are excluded from the study. Exclusion criteria are evaluated at the site investigator's discretion; if the site investigator believes that the participant's symptoms are due to causes other than neurodegeneration, despite the presence of an exclusionary condition, the investigator may overrule the exclusion.

Study Plan

This section provides details of the study plan, including how the study is designed and what the study is measuring.

How is the study designed?

Design Details

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Primary Outcome Measures

In a clinical study's protocol, the planned outcome measure that is the most important for evaluating the effect of an intervention/treatment. Most clinical studies have one primary outcome measure, but some have more than one.
Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Cognitive phenotype
Time Frame: Baseline, 6-month follow-up, 1-year follow-up
Change in Toronto Cognitive Assessment (TorCA) scores out of 330, where lower scores indicate increasing cognitive impairments, and individual domains.
Baseline, 6-month follow-up, 1-year follow-up

Secondary Outcome Measures

Secondary Outcome Measures

In a clinical study's protocol, a planned outcome measure that is not as important as the primary outcome measure for evaluating the effect of an intervention but is still of interest. Most clinical studies have more than one secondary outcome measure.
Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Neurodegenerative protein levels in biofluids and skin biopsy
Time Frame: Baseline, 6-month follow-up, 1-year follow-up
Differences in protein levels between neurodegenerative diagnoses and predictive ability for change in TorCA
Baseline, 6-month follow-up, 1-year follow-up
Assessment of DNA methylation (DNAm) from bloodwork
Time Frame: Baseline
Biological age from DNA methylation (DNAm) collected via bloodwork compared to chronological age.
Baseline
Structural and Functional Differences between neurodegenerative diseases via MRI of the brain
Time Frame: Baseline
Brain volumes and white matter hyperintensity (WMH) load corresponding to Toronto Cognitive Assessment (TorCA) scores out of 330 where lower scores indicate increasing cognitive impairments.
Baseline

Collaborators and Investigators

This is where you will find people and organizations involved with this study.

Sponsor

Sponsor

The organization or person who initiates the study and who has authority and control over the study.
University Health Network, Toronto

Collaborators

Collaborators

An organization other than the sponsor that provides support for a clinical study. This support may include activities related to funding, design, implementation, data analysis, or reporting.
Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre
Centre for Addiction and Mental Health
University of Toronto
Baycrest
Toronto Dementia Research Alliance (TDRA)

Investigators

Investigators

A researcher involved in a clinical study. Related terms include site principal investigator, site sub-investigator, study chair, study director, and study principal investigator.
  • Principal Investigator: Maria C Tartaglia, M.D., Toronto Western Hospital, UHN; Tanz CRND

Publications and helpful links

The person responsible for entering information about the study voluntarily provides these publications. These may be about anything related to the study.

General Publications

Study record dates

These dates track the progress of study record and summary results submissions to ClinicalTrials.gov. Study records and reported results are reviewed by the National Library of Medicine (NLM) to make sure they meet specific quality control standards before being posted on the public website.

Study Major Dates

Study Start (Actual)

Study Start

The actual date on which the first participant was enrolled in a clinical study. The "anticipated" study start date is the date that the researchers think will be the study start date.
November 11, 2023

Primary Completion (Estimated)

Primary Completion

The date on which the last participant in a clinical study was examined or received an intervention to collect final data for the primary outcome measure. Whether the clinical study ended according to the protocol or was terminated does not affect this date. For clinical studies with more than one primary outcome measure with different completion dates, this term refers to the date on which data collection is completed for all the primary outcome measures. The "anticipated" primary completion date is the date that the researchers think will be the primary completion date for the study.
November 1, 2026

Study Completion (Estimated)

Study Completion

The date on which the last participant in a clinical study was examined or received an intervention/treatment to collect final data for the primary outcome measures, secondary outcome measures, and adverse events (that is, the last participant's last visit). The "anticipated" study completion date is the date that the researchers think will be the study completion date.
November 1, 2027

Study Registration Dates

First Submitted

First Submitted

The date on which the study sponsor or investigator first submitted a study record to ClinicalTrials.gov. There is typically a delay of a few days between the first submitted date and the record's availability on ClinicalTrials.gov (the first posted date).
April 29, 2024

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

The date on which the study sponsor or investigator first submits a study record that is consistent with National Library of Medicine (NLM) quality control (QC) review criteria. The sponsor or investigator may need to revise and submit a study record one or more times before NLM's QC review criteria are met. It is the responsibility of the sponsor or investigator to ensure that the study record is consistent with the NLM QC review criteria.
July 26, 2024

First Posted (Actual)

First Posted

The date on which the study record was first available on ClinicalTrials.gov after National Library of Medicine (NLM) quality control (QC) review has concluded. There is typically a delay of a few days between the date the study sponsor or investigator submitted the study record and the first posted date.
July 31, 2024

Study Record Updates

Last Update Posted (Actual)

Last Update Posted

The most recent date on which changes to a study record were made available on ClinicalTrials.gov. There may be a delay between when the changes were submitted to ClinicalTrials.gov by the study's sponsor or investigator (the last update submitted date) and the last update posted date.
November 20, 2025

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

The most recent date on which the study sponsor or investigator submitted changes to a study record that are consistent with National Library of Medicine (NLM) quality control (QC) review criteria. It is the responsibility of the sponsor or investigator to ensure that the study record is consistent with the NLM QC review criteria.
November 17, 2025

Last Verified

Last Verified

The most recent date on which the study sponsor or investigator confirmed the information about a clinical study on ClinicalTrials.gov as accurate and current. If a study with a recruitment status of recruiting; not yet recruiting; or active, not recruiting has not been confirmed within the past 2 years, the study's recruitment status is shown as unknown.
November 1, 2025

More Information

Terms related to this study

Keywords

Additional Relevant MeSH Terms

Other Study ID Numbers

Other Study ID Numbers

Identifiers or ID numbers other than the NCT number that are assigned to a clinical study by the study's sponsor, funders, or others. These numbers may include unique identifiers from other trial registries and National Institutes of Health grant numbers.
  • 24-5283

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?

NO

IPD Plan Description

Individual participant data will not be available to other researchers. Only anonymized responses to the cognitive assessment, clinical assessment, behavioural questionnaires and biofluid protein levels will be shared.

Drug and device information, study documents

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product

No

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product

No

product manufactured in and exported from the U.S.

No

This information was retrieved directly from the website clinicaltrials.gov without any changes. If you have any requests to change, remove or update your study details, please contact register@clinicaltrials.gov. As soon as a change is implemented on clinicaltrials.gov, this will be updated automatically on our website as well.

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