Luke Gray Whiley

Alzheimer's disease is the most common type of dementia, but it remains unknown as to exactly why it occurs. Whilst variation in our genetics have been identified that increase the risk of developing the disease, the reasons behind this are yet to be uncovered. This lack of knowledge is especially important in genetic variants that are common in the population. An example is ABCA7, with one in six people carrying a variation in the ABAC7 gene that increases their risk of developing Alzheimer’s disease by 20%. However, before links between ABCA7 genetic variation and Alzheimer’s disease can be understood, there is first a need to uncover the impact that ABCA7 variation has on a person’s everyday biological function. 

Currently this is not the case, with such variation having no obvious effect on our biology. The project will generate foundation knowledge that describes the influence that ABCA7 variation has on everyday biology. This will be achieved by analysing data from a population study that describes both ABCA7 genetic information alongside blood measurements representative of a person’s core biology, this will reveal the biological processes that are altered with ABCA7 genetic variation. 

The knowledge generated will form the foundation groundwork required to further understand the biological factors that contribute to a person’s risk of ABCA7-associated Alzheimer’s disease. Downstream, this will uncover future opportunities for researchers to develop medical interventions to mitigate ABCA7 risk variants and to prevent or delay Alzheimer’s disease.

Read more about this exciting project

Dr Luke Gray Whiley is a senior lecturer in Phenomics, Healthy Ageing and Dementia at the Health Futures Institute at Murdoch University. His research is in conjunction Australian National Phenome Centre (ANPC), also within the Health Futures Institute, Murdoch University, an analytical facility designed to explore the molecular, and biochemical characteristics of biological tissue and fluids.