VA Starts Participating in Nationwide Alzheimer’s Registry

The Ralph H. Johnson Veterans Affairs (VA) Health Care System in Charleston, S.C., has become the first VA site to join the Alzheimer’s Network for Treatment and Diagnostics (ALZ-NET). 

This expanded research collaboration between VA and the Alzheimer’s Association has a shared goal of improving care for the estimated 500,000 veterans currently living with Alzheimer’s disease.


Launched in 2021, ALZ-NET is the first nationwide registry designed to collect real-world clinical and imaging data from people being evaluated for FDA-approved Alzheimer’s disease therapies. By connecting clinicians, researchers and health systems to data from their own patients as well as sites across the country, ALZ-NET is designed to empower doctors to make faster, data-driven decisions earlier in the course of diagnosis and treatment.

Amyloid plaques are abnormal deposits of protein that accumulate in the brains of patients with Alzheimer’s disease and negatively affect cognitive function. In 2023, the FDA approved the first monoclonal antibody treatment targeting these plaques, and later that year, VA announced coverage for amyloid-targeting therapies.



In the fall of 2023, VA opened the Alzheimer’s Disease and Related Dementias National Coordinating Center (ADRD NCC), based in Charleston, to provide amyloid-targeting treatment to veterans and coordinate efforts to bring research, new medicines, and clinical practice closer together across the VA health system. The center is now expanding its network of affiliations by joining ALZ-NET and also has plans to expand within VA with sites in Pittsburgh, Albany and more.



VA’s participation in ALZ-NET is being managed by the ADRD NCC as part of its mission to integrate clinical and research services to improve care for veterans with Alzheimer’s disease. Centralizing certain activities within ADRD NCC will allow more VA sites to be incorporated into ALZ-NET.



Joining ALZ-NET allows VA clinicians to contribute real-world data on how newly approved therapies perform in veteran patients. The goal is twofold: ensuring veterans receive high-quality, closely monitored care today while generating insights that can improve future diagnosis and treatment.



“Joining ALZ-NET strengthens our commitment to transform research with the goal of improving clinical care for our patient population,” said Grant D. Huang, M.P.H., Ph.D., VA acting chief research and development officer, in a statement. “VA and the Alzheimer’s Association share a sense of urgency to help veterans living with Alzheimer’s and other dementias, and we’re proud to be part of this important effort. We salute the Ralph H. Johnson VA Health Care System’s leadership in establishing a nationwide pathway for all VA centers to onboard with ALZ-NET to further support this mission.”