Center for Health Equity in Cognitive Aging - Joining Population Science and Health Promotion (CHECA)

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Project Summary/Abstract We propose an Alzheimer's-related Resource Center for Minority Aging Research (AD/ADRD RCMAR) at University of Illinois Chicago (UIC) called the “Center for Health Equity in Cognitive Aging” (CHECA). CHECA will support the development of new equity-focused ADRD research at UIC by building behavioral and social research infrastructure (Aim 1), diversifying the AD/ADRD research workforce through mentorship and training for early-career Scientists (Aim 2), and supporting pilot research (Aim 3). The research supported by CHECA will address 3 complementary themes: (1) advancing our understanding of environmental, sociocultural, and behavioral contributors of ADRD inequities; (2) developing and testing health-promoting resources (e.g., physical activity or stress-coping interventions; support from families, communities, or healthcare systems; information and technologies) appropriate for the needs of adults aging with or at risk for AD/ADRD and their care partners; and (3) cross-fertilizing population science and health promotion approaches to innovate our understanding of structural, social, and behavioral drivers of ADRD inequities and to maximize our intervention effects. In all of its work, CHECA is committed to centering diverse perspectives, intra-group variations, and an intersectionality lens across overlapping identities (e.g., race, ethnicity, gender and sexual identity, class, disability). The Leadership and Administrative Core (LAC) will provide scientific and intellectual leadership, strategic direction, and administrative oversight to produce synergy across CHECA cores. The Research Education Component (REC) will provide a mentoring program for RCMAR Scientists to support their long-term careers, will implement the pilot funding program (solicitation, review, and selection of pilot studies for funding), and will empower CHECA Scientists with tools and training relevant to the CHECA themes. The Analysis Core (AnC) will support Scientists' pilot projects through statistical/methodological consultation and mentoring while also enriching CHECA's methodological infrastructure accessible to all CHECA-affiliated scholars and faculty members. The Community Liaison Recruitment Core (CLRC) will provide CHECA Scientists and their mentors with training opportunities and resources for conducting community-engaged research, and will facilitate bi-directional collaborations between CHECA and community partners. Establishing CHECA will enable an increasingly diverse cadre of scholars at UIC to build on our strong track record of research with older underrepresented minority populations locally and nationally. As a federally designated Minority-Service Institution, Asian American and Native American Pacific Islander-Serving Institution, and Hispanic-Serving Institution, UIC provides a fertile ground for a new AD/ADRD RCMAR that focuses on joining population science and health promotion research to better understand and address ADRD-related health inequities.