Forging a Path Toward Early Alzheimer’s Detection

Alzheimer’s disease, the most common form of dementia, affects nearly seven million Americans. Early detection and intervention are critical to delaying symptoms and slowing disease progression. However, current diagnostic tools are often employed after symptoms appear, at which point significant brain damage has already occurred, limiting the ability to slow disease progression.¹

BYU researchers are collaborating with the University of Kansas Alzheimer’s Disease Research Center (KU AADRC) to pave the way for early detection through a validation study of a blood test designed to detect Alzheimer’s disease neurodegeneration in its infancy. If successful, this test could support Alzheimer’s research and earlier detection, monitor disease progression, and lay the foundation for new diagnostic tools and treatments.

Photo by Nicholas Rex

The blood test, developed in BYU cell biology professor Timothy Jenkins’s lab, detects cell-free DNA—small fragments of DNA released into the blood when brain cells, such as neurons affected by Alzheimer’s disease, die. Cell-free DNA carries critical information, including DNA sequence and epigenetic markers like methylation, a chemical modification that regulates gene activity and can reveal the cell of origin.

Jenkins and PhD candidate Chad Pollard (CELL) will work with a research team to analyze cell-free DNA methylation as an early indicator of neurodegeneration in blood samples from healthy individuals who later developed Alzheimer’s disease. In partnership with biotechnology company Resonant, the team will advance its blood-testing technology for potential clinical applications. KU ADRC is providing 775 longitudinal Alzheimer’s samples for the analysis. These blood samples, collected over a span of up to 12 years, will enable Pollard, Jenkins, and their team to evaluate how cell-free DNA levels change in the blood over time as the disease develops and progresses.

“We are grateful for the opportunity to work with KU ADRC on this important project,” Jenkins expressed. “This collaboration provides the clinical expertise and samples needed to validate our approach at scale. In partnership with Resonant, we aim to accelerate the technology’s availability to researchers and physicians, driving advancements in early detection and clinical application.”

Photo by BYU Photo

In addition, Dr. Jeffrey Burns, co-director of KU ADRC, highlighted the collaborative effort: “We are bringing together the best of both worlds—the work we have done to collect these samples and data over time and the work BYU has done with this promising measure is really cutting-edge. This is why we collect these data and why people participate, and now it enables us to move the science forward.”

Cell-free DNA circulating in the bloodstream shows promise for early detection of Alzheimer’s disease, capturing both general neurodegenerative signs and disease-specific changes that can inform confirmatory diagnostics.² By analyzing methylation patterns, researchers can identify and quantify cell-free DNA from neurons affected by Alzheimer’s and other neurodegenerative conditions. Resonant is also applying this approach to Parkinson’s disease, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, and traumatic brain injury, with the goal of combining these tests into a single blood panel. This would provide researchers and, eventually, physicians with a more complete picture of neurodegeneration across various brain conditions.

Preliminary findings from Jenkins’s lab have shown that elevated levels of cell-free DNA from cortical neurons in the blood are associated with Alzheimer’s disease and cases of mild cognitive impairment (MCI) that progress to Alzheimer’s.³ The team has refined their methods to enhance detection accuracy and sensitivity. Using the KU ADRC samples, they aim to validate the test in a larger cohort, across a longer timeframe.

Pollard, co-founder of Resonant, combines cell-free DNA research expertise with entrepreneurial leadership to drive this project forward. As first author of the publication reporting the initial findings,³ Pollard remarked, “This technology has the potential to significantly advance early detection of neurodegeneration. By enabling more sensitive detection at earlier stages, we aim to lay the groundwork for interventions that could improve outcomes and offer new possibilities for addressing the disease.”