Dominantly-Inherited Alzheimer Network (DIAN)

What is DIAN?

DIAN stands for the Dominantly Inherited Alzheimer’s Network.  This international network has been established by the National Institute on Aging of the National Institutes of Health (US) to bring together researchers who study genetic forms of Alzheimer’s disease (AD). 

The DIAN research volunteers are members of families in which AD is dominantly-inherited, meaning that about 50% of the individuals in each generation of a family develop AD, generally before age 60.  These rare forms of AD are caused by a mutation in one of 3 genes.  Each child of an affected parent has a 50% chance of inheriting the mutation.  If they do, they will develop the dementia of AD at about the same age as their parent.  Siblings who do not have the mutation have no greater risk of developing AD than someone without a family history of AD and will participate in DIAN as part of a comparison group for their mutation-carrying siblings.

Please see the attached study description for more information.