The General Hospital Corporation (MGH) Research Management Division was awarded a $458,585 Project Grant from the National Institute on Aging (NIA) under the Aging Research program (CFDA 93.866) to develop a method for detecting autoantibodies against beta-amyloid in serum as a potential biomarker for Alzheimer's disease (AD). The 2-year project aims to investigate the use of small molecule compounds called CRANAD-XS to differentially tune the binding between beta-amyloid and its autoantibodies in serum samples, with the goal of establishing a fast, inexpensive, and reliable screening approach for preliminary AD diagnosis compared to existing imaging technologies. This research builds on the awardee's prior work demonstrating the ability to modulate antibody-antigen interactions using small molecules. The funding will support laboratory studies at MGH to evaluate the CRANAD-XS compound's capacity to enhance or weaken the autoantibody-beta-amyloid interactions, with the aim of developing a novel serum-based diagnostic for early-stage AD detection.