Examination of vascular and Alzheimer’s dementias in community-based American Indians: Lessons learned from the Strong Heart Study

Date and Time

January 30, 2024 from 1:00-2:15 p.m., ET

Webinar Recording

Speaker

Astrid Suchy-Dicey, PhD
Associate Professor
Director, Brain Aging Study
Scientific Director, Clinical Neurosciences
Huntington Medical Research Institutes

Webinar Description

American Indians have especially high risk for vascular and Alzheimer’s dementias, but are not represented in most population-based, aging research studies. A majority of knowledge on risk factors, and clinical presentation in dementia have been defined from research in non-Hispanic White or majority populations. However, many key factors are expressed differently in American Indians than in other populations, and some are not associated with cognitive outcomes at all. Such discrepancies suggest that—due to complex interactions in historical, institutional, and social factors—etiologic and epidemiologic findings may not be generalizable across racial/ethnic groups. Therefore, inclusion of all populations, including American Indians, is critical in order to fully appreciate these complex diseases. Dr. Suchy-Dicey describes her work on vascular and Alzheimer’s dementias with the Strong Heart Study, including implementation of Community-Based Participatory Methods to recruit and examine over 1000 American Indian elders from 11 tribes across 3 regions.

Dr. Astrid M. Suchy-Dicey will serve as the next speaker for the “DN Minority Health and Health Disparities in Neuroscience Webinar Series”. She is Associate Professor and Director of Clinical Neurosciences at Huntington Medical Research Institutes; Co-lead Data Statistics Methods Core at University of Washington Alzheimer’s Disease Research Center; and Chair of the Neurology Working Group with the Strong Heart Study. Dr. Suchy-Dicey is an epidemiologist focused on health disparities and social determinants in neurodegenerative disease, with a particular focus on brain aging in American Indians and other minoritized populations. She leads scientific operations for the largest population-based, longitudinal cohort study on vascular and Alzheimer’s dementias in American Indians, with recent program expansions including biomarker and psychometric validations; examination of strength-based features such as psychological resilience and cognitive reserve; and assessment of bilingual learning and education on cognitive aging.

Registration

Registration is closed.

Contact Information

Please contact Damali Martin for questions about the webinar.