Sarah Biber, PhD, is an interdisciplinary researcher whose work integrates data science, bioinformatics, human-centered systems engineering, and implementation science. From 2021 to 2025, she co-led the National Alzheimer’s Coordinating Center (NACC) as Executive Director and multi-Principal Investigator (mPI), guiding its transformation into a modern multimodal cloud-based platform that integrates longitudinal clinical, imaging, neuropathological, biomarker, genomic and real-world data. In this role, she has dramatically expanded access to NACC resources for the global research community and strengthened its role as the national hub for data, communications, and collaboration across the National Institute on Aging’s 36 Alzheimer Disease Research Center (ADRC) Program.
As part of this effort, Biber developed and deployed innovative tools for data search, visualization, access and analysis, enabling researchers to more effectively leverage complex datasets and accelerate discovery.
She serves as mPI of The Consortium for Clarity in ADRD Research Through Imaging (CLARiTI), a multi-institutional study leveraging imaging, blood-based biomarkers, and digital neuropathology to investigate and disentangle mixed dementia.
Her research is driven by a commitment to advancing early detection and precision medicine, enabling streamlined access to data and tools, reducing burden on research stakeholders, and promoting data standardization and interoperability. To achieve these aims, Biber develops stakeholder-informed cyberinfrastructure to support the integration and reuse of multimodal data; designs implementation models that reflect real-world workflows; applies team science approaches to address complex, system-level challenges; and uses mixed-methods and usability studies to support real-world deployment, adoption, and sustained impact.
Her long-term goal is to translate innovations in data science and informatics into sustainable infrastructure and workflows that support representative, scalable, and actionable research—particularly in Alzheimer’s disease and related dementias (AD/ADRD), where the data ecosystem is siloed and rapidly evolving.