Administrative Supplement - Network on Education, Biosocial Pathways, and Dementia across Diverse Populations

Univ Of Maryland, College Park, College Park MD

Investigators

Linked publications & trials

Abstract

PROJECT SUMMARY The overarching goal of the Network on Education, Biosocial Pathways, and Dementia across Diverse Populations is to build an interdisciplinary network of scientists who can elucidate the relationship between educational attainment and ADRD, with attention to life course psychosocial, socioeconomic, and biological pathways, and racial and ethnic disparities. The key aims for this network include: 1) advance scientific understanding of how education relates to ADRD disparities; 2) establish an interdisciplinary network of new, emerging, and established ADRD scientists; 3) facilitate research collaborations and professional development; and 4) disseminate network products to the scientific community that are discoverable and user-friendly. Through these activities our R24 Network will advance science in the education—dementia relationship; however, the field is accelerating quickly, and continued efforts are needed to take advantage of a rapidly expanding pool of new data resources, including the addition of cognitive measures to existing longitudinal cohort studies and the release of new biomarker data from studies already supported by our Network. There are also evolving opportunities to collaborate with new networks that have related aims to our Network. These new resources and networks provide tremendous opportunities to further achieve the broader goal and aims of this Network. We are well positioned to take advantage of these recent developments because this Network’s leadership and membership have linkages to these new data resources and networks. We can serve as a hub to link these groups together. This administrative supplement will greatly enhance existing Network activities by: 1) expanding the number and scope of pilot projects to allow for more complex projects that can accelerate our scientific advancements in the education—ADRD field, 2) developing a data resource tool that collates measures on early educational environments and experiences, AD biomarker and genetic risk, and later life cognition and dementia across the population-based data sets our Network supports, which we will make publicly available on our Network website, 3) providing additional grant mentoring support to pilot PIs to increase the likelihood they can build and sustain their education—ADRD research program, and 4) organizing and hosting a biennial meeting that brings together PIs from established population-aging studies, PIs from recently funded population aging studies that are incorporating cognition and dementia measures into their data collection activities, and several NIA-funded Networks whose focus and expertise are on data collection more broadly.