Network on Education, Biosocial Pathways, and Dementia across Diverse Populations

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PROJECT SUMMARY Despite the high prevalence of Alzheimer’s Disease and Related Dementias (ADRD), we have yet to develop clinical interventions that can substantially slow or reverse the course of dementia. One of the most powerful determinants of ADRD, educational attainment, remains poorly understood. To advance scientific understanding of how, why, and for whom education relates to ADRD, we propose to build an interdisciplinary network of ADRD scientists whose joint expertise is vital to achieving NIA’s goal to reduce educational disparities in ADRD: population health scientists, with their expertise in the behaviors that shape dementia risk and resilience, and ADRD researchers, with their expertise in the biology and neurocognitive aspects of ADRD. Our Network will advance scientific understanding of how education relates to ADRD disparities by exploring the socioeconomic, social, psychological, and biological mechanisms that shape resilience and risk and if these patterns differ by race and ethnicity. Identifying and clarifying mechanisms is needed to inform interventions to reduce educational disparities in ADRD. The NIH-funded longitudinal population-based studies that form the core data resources linked to this network, and the Network’s leadership, are well suited to meet the broader scientific aim. We will advance education and ADRD science by establishing an interdisciplinary Network of new, emerging, and established ADRD scientists who will apply cutting-edge methods and techniques from their respective disciplines to answer complex questions about the education—ADRD relationship. Our Network will facilitate research collaboration and professional development via annual meetings, small working groups, pilot awards, and workshops. Annual meetings and working groups will provide venues for new and emerging ADRD scholars to develop collaborations with established ADRD scholars across disciplinary boundaries and pilot awards will support collaborative research projects. Workshops will provide introductory training in ADRD science and professional development in grant writing, and science communication. We will disseminate Network products to the scientific and broader policy community that are discoverable and user-friendly. We will develop a Network webpage and social media accounts to share recorded webinars, Network-developed tools and user guides, solicit pilot projects, and highlight the work of our Network members through infographics and short data briefs. The Network will be led by an interdisciplinary leadership team with expertise in the data that undergirds the Network, population health disparities, and the clinical and biological underpinnings of ADRD, thus bridging the social, clinical, and ADRD sciences, as well as the three nodes critical to building our Network: ADRD, education, and diverse populations. Our Network will develop new and emerging ADRD scholars, quickly integrate them into the field, and facilitate and elevate their scholarship to have high and sustained impact in education and ADRD.