CDHA is proud to announce its support for EdSHARe’s Innovative Pilot Project to Harmonize Biomarker Data. 

CDHA is proud to support a high-impact pilot project designed to harmonize cutting-edge biomarker data across two foundational national panel studies: High School and Beyond (HS&B:80) and the National Longitudinal Study of the High School Class of 1972 (NLS:72).

Originally established by the U.S. Department of Education to evaluate educational pathways and life course development, these cohorts, consisting of more than 41,000 combined participants who were high school students in 1972 and 1980, offer a unique glimpse into social determinants, health disparities, and late-life cognitive outcomes.

To maximize the research value of both cohorts for the broader scientific community, researchers are leveraging state-of-the-art technological advancements in blood assay platforms. While whole blood collected from the HS&B:80 cohort in 2021 was previously assayed using standard ELISA methods, the upcoming completion of blood collection for NLS:72 provides a unique opportunity to employ NULISA, a newly developed, highly sensitive platform for advanced biomarker quantification.

A recent $200,000 award from the Alzheimer’s Association brought the project within reach of final completion. CDHA, alongside P30 centers at the University of Minnesota and the University of Texas, is co-funding the remaining amount to cover laboratory processing at the Advanced Research and Diagnostic Laboratory and subsequent data curation.