
The Final Piece
in Combating Alzheimer's Disease
A decade-long battle
Ten years ago, Prof. Nancy Ip's team from the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (HKUST) began the vital work of patient recruitment and sample collection for a project aimed at transforming Alzheimer's disease (AD) diagnosis. In 2019, advances in protein detection technologies enabled the development of new AD blood biomarkers and assays – an exciting turning point for AD research. Traditionally, AD diagnosis has relied on subjective cognitive assessments or expensive and invasive methods like brain imaging and cerebrospinal fluid analysis. The team has developed a blood test that is not only highly accurate but also convenient and non-invasive, representing a groundbreaking tool for early detection and monitoring of the disease.
In 2021, HKUST has licensed the technology to Cognitact for commercialization and application to the general public.

Microfluidic chip and algorithm: The next frontier
The team has developed an advanced blood assay chip that can simultaneously measure 22 critical Alzheimer's disease (AD) biomarkers with high accuracy, leveraging findings from a large-scale proteomic profiling study conducted in 2021. Additionally, a machine learning algorithm was invented for modelling an individual’s AD risk score based on the comprehensive profile of these 21 blood proteins. This scoring system was fine-tuned using over 2,000 human plasma samples from a diverse range of ethnic groups, allowing the blood test to accurately assess an individual’s AD status.
Driving towards global impact
The team is currently preparing a clinical research program in multiple regions and countries – the first stage includes Hong Kong, Mainland China, the US, and some countries in Europe – to gather more clinical data to validate and optimize the blood testing technology, and ultimately benefit the global population with the blood test for AD.