The overall purpose of this proposal is to identify modifiable risk factors for Alzheimer’s disease and related dementias that influence DNA methylation and dementia status among groups at increased risk for dementia including women, minorities, rural inhabitants, and those with low educational attainment. Results from this proposal may provide an opportunity to identify epigenetic components that contribute to the prevalence and risk of dementia that could lead to a mechanistic understanding or targeted interventions that may substantially decrease the burden of Alzheimer’s disease and related dementias in the US population. 

RECRUITING POST-DOCs for 2021 - 2025!!

Our aims are to (1) determine the cumulative genetic risk of LOAD by testing the association between cognitive polygenic scores and risk of dementia phenotype in European and African ancestries; (2) determine the polygenic effect of LOAD risk covariates from behavioral, physiological, and psychosocial domains on dementia phenotypes in European and African ancestries; and (3) test for effect modification of the association between polygenic risk and dementia in European and African ancestries by health disparities factors (sex, education, urban/rural residence). 

The Health and Retirement Study is the nation’s pre-eminent resource for publicly-available data on the economic well-being and physical and mental health of its older population. 

Building on an existing representative study of children, this proposal will directly respond to PAR-16-355 by: 1) assembling epigenome-wide data on 2,000 children at two points in time, 2) describing methylation patterns in 3 race/ethnic groups and across SES levels, and 3) explicating epigenetic associations with social adversity, biological processes, and socioemotional development. 

This project aims to use significant and replicated results from existing genome-wide association studies to develop novel gene-based (burden scores) and genome-wide (polygenic scores) methods to better capture genetic risk and to examine whether SES and work characteristics moderate the effect of genes on the development of dementia and cognitive decline in later life.

In this project, we propose a week-long summer workshop and series of online modules to build the capacity of social and behavioral scientists to understand and conduct genomic research using NIH-funded resources, such as the Health and Retirement Study (HRS).

The University of Michigan Health and Retirement Study (HRS) is a longitudinal panel study that surveys a representative sample of approximately 20,000 people in America, supported by the National Institute on Aging (NIA U01AG009740) and the Social Security Administration.

Through its unique and in-depth interviews, the HRS provides an invaluable and growing body of multidisciplinary data that researchers can use to address important questions about the challenges and opportunities of aging.

The Fragile Families & Child Wellbeing Study is following a cohort of nearly 5,000 children born in large U.S. cities between 1998 and 2000 (roughly three-quarters of whom were born to unmarried parents). We refer to unmarried parents and their children as “fragile families” to underscore that they are families and that they are at greater risk of breaking up and living in poverty than more traditional families.

The core Study was originally designed to primarily address four questions of great interest to researchers and policy makers: (1) What are the conditions and capabilities of unmarried parents, especially fathers?; (2) What is the nature of the relationships between unmarried parents?; (3) How do children born into these families fare?; and (4) How do policies and environmental conditions affect families and children?

The English Longitudinal Study of Ageing (ELSA) is a unique and rich resource of information on the health, social, wellbeing and economic circumstances of the English population aged 50 and older. The current sample contains data from up to eight waves of data collection covering a period of 15 years.

ELSA includes objective and subjective data relating to health and disability, biological markers of disease, economic circumstance, social participation, nutrition, networks and well-being. The multidisciplinary and longitudinal nature of the data allows for the examination of complex relationships and causal processes.

The multidisciplinary and longitudinal nature of the data allows for the examination of complex relationships and causal processes.

The University of Michigan Health and Retirement Study (HRS) is a longitudinal panel study that surveys a representative sample of approximately 20,000 people in America, supported by the National Institute on Aging (NIA U01AG009740) and the Social Security Administration.

Through its unique and in-depth interviews, the HRS provides an invaluable and growing body of multidisciplinary data that researchers can use to address important questions about the challenges and opportunities of aging.

The Fragile Families & Child Wellbeing Study is following a cohort of nearly 5,000 children born in large U.S. cities between 1998 and 2000 (roughly three-quarters of whom were born to unmarried parents). We refer to unmarried parents and their children as “fragile families” to underscore that they are families and that they are at greater risk of breaking up and living in poverty than more traditional families.

The core Study was originally designed to primarily address four questions of great interest to researchers and policy makers: (1) What are the conditions and capabilities of unmarried parents, especially fathers?; (2) What is the nature of the relationships between unmarried parents?; (3) How do children born into these families fare?; and (4) How do policies and environmental conditions affect families and children?

The English Longitudinal Study of Ageing (ELSA) is a unique and rich resource of information on the health, social, wellbeing and economic circumstances of the English population aged 50 and older. The current sample contains data from up to eight waves of data collection covering a period of 15 years.

ELSA includes objective and subjective data relating to health and disability, biological markers of disease, economic circumstance, social participation, nutrition, networks and well-being. The multidisciplinary and longitudinal nature of the data allows for the examination of complex relationships and causal processes.

The multidisciplinary and longitudinal nature of the data allows for the examination of complex relationships and causal processes.

The Study to Assess Risk and Resilience in Servicemembers — Longitudinal Study (STARRS-LS) is a research project funded by the U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) to create practical, actionable information on risk reduction and resilience-building for suicide, suicide-related behavior, and other mental/behavioral health issues in the military. It continues and expands the vital work begun by the Army STARRS project.

STARRS-LS, which runs from 2015 to 2020, is being led by Co-Principal Investigators Robert J. Ursano, MD (Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences) and Murray B. Stein, MD, MPH (University of California, San Diego). Other major contributors are Ronald C. Kessler, PhD (Harvard Medical School) and James Wagner, PhD (University of Michigan).

The Study to Assess Risk and Resilience in Servicemembers — Longitudinal Study (STARRS-LS) is a research project funded by the U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) to create practical, actionable information on risk reduction and resilience-building for suicide, suicide-related behavior, and other mental/behavioral health issues in the military. It continues and expands the vital work begun by the Army STARRS project.

STARRS-LS, which runs from 2015 to 2020, is being led by Co-Principal Investigators Robert J. Ursano, MD (Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences) and Murray B. Stein, MD, MPH (University of California, San Diego). Other major contributors are Ronald C. Kessler, PhD (Harvard Medical School) and James Wagner, PhD (University of Michigan).