Pooling CSF Measurements Across Multiple Cohorts in the Preclinical Alzheimer's Consortium

Studies focused on understanding cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) biomarkers of presymptomatic disease processes in Alzheimer’s disease (AD) are restricted by sample sizes that lack statistical power to investigate subtle effects of interest pertaining to risk. Pooling data across cohorts may be effective to identify early trends in CSF biomarkers to subsequent neurodegeneration and cognitive decline. Unfortunately, different instruments, preanalytics and workflows at each site lead to unique challenges when analysis of a pooled dataset is undertaken. We report initial findings from harmonized pooling of CSF measurements (cross‐sectional) across three preclinical AD studies at different institutions on a combined cohort size of N=733.