Hopkins' Economics of Alzheimer's Disease and Services (HEADS) Center

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Abstract – Overall This application requests funding to establish the Hopkins’ Economics of Alzheimer’s Disease & Services (HEADS) Center. The Center’s overall goal is to advance population-based science that addresses ADRD care and its economic consequences. We will meet this goal through research that addresses two themes: (1) Identifying and quantifying the range of ADRD care needs and related economic consequences and (2) Examining how the organization, financing, and delivery of services affects accessibility, affordability, quality, and equity of ADRD care. Within each theme, HEADS Center research will emphasize family and unpaid caregiving and disparities. We meet our overall goal and address Center themes through two Specific Aims. SPECIFIC AIM 1 is to generate new knowledge concerning ADRD care in the areas of the HEADS Center's thematic focus. SPECIFIC AIM 2 is to advance the field of ADRD economics and health services research and its impact by nurturing emerging and established investigators, developing a cutting-edge research infrastructure, disseminating new knowledge, and forging linkages with policy and practice communities. The HEADS Center will accomplish its Aims through an infrastructure of four Cores. Core A, the Administrative and Research Support Core will develop and execute the Center’s strategic vision by coordinating and managing research, methods, data, community-building, and dissemination resources across Cores. Core B, the Program Development Core will provide funding, interdisciplinary research mentorship, and regulatory monitoring for novel pilot studies that can advance research within our themes, develop the careers of researchers addressing these themes, and attract investigators to the field. Core D, the External Research Resources Support and Dissemination Core, will build the community of scientists engaged in research related to HEADS themes, facilitate rigorous use of research resources, disseminate scientific evidence developed within our themes, and nurture partnerships with key stakeholders and advocacy organizations to translate findings into policy and practice. Core E, the Remote Data Enclave Core will create and sustain a high-capacity, secure computing environment, that can generate new investigations and investigators pursuing projects within our themes that leverage unique linkages between ADRD related data, many with strict security requirements. The HEADS Center will leverage unique strengths at Johns Hopkins University (Hopkins) to build a cross-school, interdisciplinary, and diverse environment for developing and executing innovative research to advance population-based science that addresses ADRD care and its economic consequences.