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Expand research on the role of social and psychosocial factors on AD risk and resilience to risk in ethnically and socioeconomically diverse populations to interrogate mechanisms of disparities in health burden of AD, and inform intervention strategies and public health policy. These efforts should utilize a life-course approach.
2030 PAR-14-281: Connectomes Related to Human Disease (U01) PAR-15-356: Major Opportunities for Research in Epidemiology of Alzheimer's Disease and Cognitive Resilience (R01) RFA-AG-15-018: Immune and Inflammatory Mechanisms in Alzheimer’s Disease (R01) PAR-19-070: Research on Current Topics in Alzheimer's Disease and Its Related Dementias (R01 Clinical Trial Optional) PAR-19-071: Research on Current Topics in Alzheimer's Disease and Its Related Dementias (R21 Clinical Trial Not Allowed) NOT-AG-18-047: Health Disparities and Alzheimer's Disease (reissue of PAR-15-349 and PAR-15-350 (as R21)) PAR-17-054: Leveraging Existing Cohort Studies to Clarify Risk and Protective Factors for Alzheimer’s Disease and Related Dementias (R01) NOT-AG-18-053: Major Opportunities for Research in Epidemiology of Alzheimer's Disease and Related Dementias and Cognitive Resilience PAR-18-581: Emotional Function in Normal Aging and/or MCI and AD/ADRD (R01 Clinical Trial Optional) NOT-AG-20-039: Fundamental and Translational Research on Decision Making in Aging and/or Alzheimer’s Disease and Alzheimer’s Disease Related Dementias (AD/ADRD) NOT-AG-20-040: Basic and Translational Research on Affective, Motivational, and Social Function in Normative Aging and/or Alzheimer’s Disease and Related Dementias (AD/ADRD) PAR-20-164: Mechanisms and consequences of sleep disparities in the U.S. (R01) NOT-AG-21-045: Opportunities for Research in Epidemiology of AD/ADRD and Cognitive Resilience PAR-21-311 (Reissue of PAR-18-835): Global Brain and Nervous System Disorders Research Across the Lifespan (R01 Clinical Trial Optional) PAR-21-319 (Reissue of PAR-18-836): Global Brain and Nervous System Disorders Research Across the Lifespan (R21 Clinical Trial Optional) PAR-21-157: The Midlife in the United States (MIDUS) Study - Cognitive and Neurocognitive Precursors of AD/ADRD PAR-21-280: Dyadic Interpersonal Processes and Biopsychosocial Outcomes (R01 - Basic Experimental Studies with Humans) PAR-21-281: Dyadic Interpersonal Processes and Biopsychosocial Outcomes (R01 Clinical Trials Not Allowed) NOT-AG-22-022: Administrative Supplements to Support Research Infrastructure on Exposome Studies in Alzheimer's Disease (AD) and AD-Related Dementias (ADRD) RFA-AG-23-020: Building Infrastructure for Precision Medicine Research on Minority Health and Disparities in Alzheimer’s Disease (AD) and AD-Related Dementias (ADRD) (UH2/UH3 Clinical Trial Not Allowed) PAR-23-207: Novel Mechanism Research on Neuropsychiatric Symptoms (NPS) in Alzheimer's Dementia (R01 Clinical Trial Optional) (Reissue of PAR-20-157) PAR-23-208: Novel Mechanism Research on Neuropsychiatric Symptoms (NPS) in Alzheimer's Dementia (R21 Clinical Trial Optional) (Reissue of PAR-20-159) RFA-AG-24-010: Limited Competition: The Health and Retirement Study and Harmonized Cognitive Assessment Protocol (U01 Clinical Trial Not Allowed) (Reissue of RFA-AG-18-005) RFA-AG-24-011: Research Coordinating Center on the Exposome and AD/ADRD: Elucidating the Role of Social and Behavioral Determinants of Health in AD/ADRD Etiology and Disparities RFA-AG-24-028: Behavioral and Social Research on the Role of Immigration on Life Course Health and Aging, including AD/ADRD (R01 Clinical Trial Not Allowed) RFA-AG-24-029: Behavioral and Social Research on the Role of Immigration on Life Course Health and Aging, including AD/ADRD (R21 Clinical Trial Not Allowed) RFA-AG-25-006 Resources to Promote Coordination and Collaboration across Deeply Phenotyped Longitudinal Behavioral and Social Studies of Aging (U24 Clinical Trial Not Allowed) (Reissue of RFA-AG-23-003) 2.J In Progress Expand research on the role of social and psychosocial factors, on AD risk and resilience to risk in ethnically and socioeconomically diverse populations... DBSR DN 2018 AD Summit: 5F 2017 Dementia Care Summit: 1.1, 1.2, 1.3 Blog: Frequent social contact in midlife may reduce dementia risk, Whitehall II study analysis shows Blog: Social isolation, loneliness in older people pose health risks NIA Workshop on Bilingualism and Cognitive Reserve and Resilience Workshop: The Future of Population-Based Studies in Alzheimer’s Disease and Related Dementia Research: Setting Future Scientific Priorities Highlight: Work complexity linked to better cognitive aging Highlight: Personality traits are related to measures of neurodegeneration Highlight: Aging in disadvantaged neighborhoods may worsen age-related cognitive problems, especially among Mexican Americans Highlight: Can personality traits predict dementia Highlight: Loneliness linked to dementia risk in large-scale analysis Highlight: Difficulty managing bills may signal early dementia Workshop: Cognitive Aging Summit IV Workshop: NASEM/CPOP Early Life Exposures Midlife Structural Solutions Research on Disease Mechanisms NIH Blueprint for Neuroscience Research – Human Connectome Project Health Disparities and Alzheimer's Disease Social & psychosocial factors; life course risk and resilience Leveraging Existing Cohort Studies to Clarify Risk and Protective Factors for Alzheimer’s Disease and Related Dementias RCCN Preconference on Resilience and Reserve in Aging Six new projects were funded in FY2019 Investigating the impact of loneliness on brain aging and pre-symptomatic Alzheimer's disease progression Colorado Adoption/Twin Study of Lifespan behavioral development & cognitive aging (CATSLife2) Reversibility Network: Interventions to Reverse or Remediate Effects of Early Life Adversity on Ageing Processes new call for pilot applications Characterizing Disparities in Late-Life Onset Alzheimer’s Disease Risk Through Polygenic Risk and Epidemiologic Factors in the Health and Retirement Survey Understanding the link between sociocultural and biological factors to brain health across race & ethnicity in midlife Administrative supplements funded under NOT-AG-22-022 Projects funded under PAR-21-157 in FY22 Clinical Spectrum and Societal Impact of Cognitive Impairment with HIV in Uganda
- Initiate at least 6 research projects focused on understanding heterogeneous mechanistic pathways of disparities in health burden of AD, testing whether causal pathways to AD differ across disparities populations and identifying critical windows of vulnerability to AD risk.
Summary of Key Accomplishments
To support our understanding of the causes of AD across populations, NIA issued a funding opportunity to gather new cognitive measures through the Midlife in the U.S. (MIDUS) study. Funded projects will leverage existing non-AD cohorts to understand the behavioral, social, psychological, biological, and environmental risk and protective factors for dementia. NIA also supports the Network for Emotional Wellbeing (NEW) and Brain Aging Center, examining how brain aging impacts emotional well-being and risk for progression of AD/ADRD. NIA made an award in 2024 to establish a new Exposome Coordinating Center to foster collaboration and accelerate life course research on the social, behavioral, economic, and environmental exposures that shape AD/ADRD outcomes and inequities.
In addition, the ongoing Health and Retirement Study (HRS) has expanded to include additional minority participants across their age cohorts, providing an opportunity to implement the Harmonized Cognitive Assessment Protocol (HCAP) to assess dementia risk across diverse populations. HCAP studies have been completed in the United States, Mexico, Chile, England, India, and China. NIA also supports demographically diverse educational cohort studies, including Add Health and High School and Beyond, seeking to elucidate how education and other social factors affect risk and protective factors for dementia across the life course. Further, NIA supports an active study using very brief assessments collected throughout the day via smartphones to characterize the mechanisms underlying relationships between personal social networks, face-to-face interactions, activity spaces, and cognitive function in older adults living in urban and rural areas.
The key accomplishments summary is current as of June 2024.