Path: /organizations/tau-consortium
Type: Research Consortium / Collaborative Network
Scope: International
Founded: Early 2010s (formalized under CurePSP umbrella)
Supported by: CurePSP and partner foundations
The Tau Consortium is an international collaborative research network that brings together leading academic investigators, pharmaceutical companies, and patient advocacy organizations with the shared goal of accelerating therapeutic development for tauopathies. Unlike a traditional research institute, the Tau Consortium functions as a distributed network of investigators who share data, biological samples, and research resources to accelerate the understanding and treatment of diseases characterized by tau pathology, including Progressive Supranuclear Palsy (PSP), Alzheimer's disease, and related disorders.
The consortium's primary value lies in breaking down the barriers that traditionally slow translational research — geographic separation of expertise, siloed data, competition for limited resources, and fragmented sample collections. By coordinating these elements, the Tau Consortium has dramatically accelerated the pace of tau therapeutic development.
¶ Mission and Structure
- Accelerate drug development — Move tau-targeting therapies from discovery to clinic faster
- Share resources — Pool data, samples, and expertise across institutions
- Standardize methods — Develop common protocols for measurement and analysis
- Train researchers — Develop the next generation of tauopathy experts
- Inform clinical trial design — Use natural history data to optimize trials
The Tau Consortium is organized around:
- Executive committee — Senior investigators from major research centers
- Working groups — Focused on specific topics (genetics, biomarkers, imaging, clinical)
- Member investigators — Individual labs contributing to consortium activities
- Industry partners — Pharmaceutical companies contributing resources and expertise
- CurePSP staff — Program coordination and management
The Tau Consortium maintains a large-scale genetic database for PSP and related tauopathies:
- Cohort collection — Over 5,000 PSP patients with genetic data
- Genome-wide association studies (GWAS) — Identification of risk loci
- Exome sequencing — Rare variant discovery
- Longitudinal tracking — Genotype-phenotype correlations over time
Key discoveries facilitated by this resource include:
- Identification of TMEM106B as a risk factor for PSP
- LRRK2 variants linked to PSP susceptibility
- APOE genotype effects on PSP progression
- Rare MAPT splice site mutations causing familial PSP
The consortium develops and validates biomarkers for:
Fluid biomarkers:
- Neurofilament light chain (NfL) in CSF and blood
- Total tau and phosphorylated tau (p-tau181, p-tau217)
- YKL-40 (microglial activation marker)
Imaging biomarkers:
- Tau PET ligands for in vivo pathology visualization
- MRI measures of regional atrophy
- Diffusion tensor imaging for white matter integrity
Clinical measures:
- PSP Rating Scale (PSPRS) validation
- Digital outcome measures (smartphone-based)
- Caregiver burden assessments
The Tau Consortium provides critical infrastructure for clinical trials:
- Site network — Pre-qualified clinical sites with PSP expertise
- Patient registries — Pre-screened patients available for trial recruitment
- Outcome measure calibration — Standardized training for raters across sites
- Regulatory engagement — Dialog with FDA on trial design and endpoints
¶ 4. Tissue Bank and Biosample Repository
The consortium coordinates a distributed network of brain banks and biobanks:
- Post-mortem brain tissue — For neuropathological validation
- CSF samples — Longitudinal collections from well-characterized patients
- Blood samples — For genomic and biomarker studies
- iPSC lines — From PSP patients for disease modeling
Participating institutions include:
- Mayo Clinic Brain Bank (Rochester)
- University College London Brain Bank
- Harvard Brain Bank
- Newcastle Brain Bank
The Tau Consortium spans major research centers globally:
North America:
- University of California, San Francisco (UCSF) — Memory and Aging Center
- University of Pennsylvania — Department of Neurology
- Mayo Clinic Rochester — Department of Neuroscience
- Columbia University — Neurological Institute
- Johns Hopkins University — Department of Neurology
Europe:
- University College London (UCL) — Reta Lila Laboratories
- University of Cambridge — Department of Neurology
- German Center for Neurodegenerative Diseases (DZNE) — Munich
- University of Tübingen — Center for Neurology
Asia-Pacific:
- Tokyo Metropolitan Institute — Department of Neurology
- University of Sydney — Brain and Mind Centre
The Tau Consortium has contributed to major advances in tauopathy research:
- Genetic discoveries — TMEM106B, LRRK2, other risk loci
- Biomarker validation — NfL as progression marker
- Natural history data — PSPRS trajectory modeling
- Clinical trial methods — Regulatory-grade outcome measures
- Disease models — iPSC and animal models of tauopathy
The consortium has produced landmark publications in:
- Nature Genetics (TMEM106B GWAS)
- Lancet Neurology (PSPRS natural history)
- Brain (tau PET imaging studies)
- Annals of Neurology (biomarker validation)
The Tau Consortium actively supports the pharmaceutical pipeline for tau-targeting therapies:
| Drug |
Company |
Mechanism |
Consortium Role |
| Bepranemab |
Roche |
Anti-tau antibody |
Site network, patient registry |
| BIIB080 |
Biogen |
MAPT ASO |
Biomarker validation, site support |
| AMX0035 |
Amylyx |
Multi-target |
Trial design input, outcome measures |
| NIO752 |
Novartis/Ionis |
MAPT ASO |
Regulatory engagement, biomarker support |
| Neflamapimod |
Viale |
p38 MAPK inhibitor |
Site network, patient recruitment |
The Tau Consortium is funded through:
- CurePSP — Primary organizational support
- NIH grants — Peer-reviewed research funding
- Industry partnerships — Pharmaceutical company contributions
- Foundation grants — Alzheimer's Association, BrightFocus
- Individual donations — Major gift program
The Tau Consortium's impact can be measured through:
- Reduced trial timelines — Pre-qualification of sites accelerates startup
- Improved data quality — Standardized protocols ensure comparability
- Enhanced recruitment — Registries enable faster enrollment
- Accelerated discovery — Shared resources multiply research output