Brain Tissue Resources

Framingham Heart Study Brain Tissue Repository Oversight Committee (BTROC)

In 1997, the Framingham Heart Study (FHS) began a postmortem brain tissue donation program to allow investigators to explore the environmental and genetic links to neurological diseases as well as healthy aging. FHS participants donated their brain to research and now qualified investigators can request brain tissue for their studies.  A distinguishing feature of the FHS repository for research is the availability of longitudinal (often decades-long) information on individual health behaviors, environmental exposures, clinical events, genetic and omics data, and imaging data from various stages across the life course. By relating FHS clinical information to neuropathological findings, the opportunity to identify risk factors for disease is enhanced.   With the advent of new technologies such as single cell molecular profiling, cryo-EM, etc., there are many new scientific opportunities for the use of autopsy brain tissue to gain deeper mechanistic insights about brain aging and dementia.

In 2020, NIA established the FHS Brain Aging Program (FHS-BAP) through a U19 cooperative agreement award. Within the FHS-BAP, the Neuropathology Core is responsible for conducting consistent neuropathological tissue preparation and assessment of all FHS brain autopsy cases in order to facilitate the storage and distribution of biospecimens and the linked data from FHS, digital library creation, and the development of novel quantitative neuropathological measures of AD and other neuropathologically-defined disorders. FHS’ neuropathological protocol aligns with that of the Boston University Alzheimer Disease Research Center (BU ADRC) in biospecimen collection, blocking, staining and storage. Visit the FHS-BAP website to learn more about the BTROC and Neuropath Core.