Alzheimer disease (AD), the most common neurodegenerative disease in the world, affects individuals of all races and ethnicities; however, most research about factors contributing to risk of AD has been performed in EA individuals with a limited number of large-scale genetic studies in other populations. Trans-ethnic studies have shown that population differences in genetic background and exposure to other risk factors and diseases (collectively referred to here as ‘environment’), can be leveraged to make novel discoveries that might require a sample size several orders of magnitude larger to achieve similar success studying a single population. Here, we propose to elucidate the genetic architecture for AD in Koreans, a relatively genetically homogenous population. WGS data generated for this study will be particularly valuable both for validation of ADSP findings and discovery of novel risk and/or protective variants for AD when combined with ADSP EA and other non-EA populations including ethnic minorities in the United States.

The dataset contains WGS data from participants of the Gwangju Alzheimer’s and Related Dementias (GARD) Study and from other persons who were ascertained at several hospitals in the Republic of Korea who were diagnosed as Alzheimer disease (AD) or control using NIA-AA criteria. The total WGS sample of 4,000 individuals includes slightly more AD cases than controls. The dataset includes variables for age at onset (AD cases) or age at exam (controls) and sex.