San Diego Resource Center for advancing Alzheimer's Research in Minority Seniors (ARMS)

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Project Summary Abstract This supplement will support the candidate, PhD candidate Makaya Funk-White, to attain her long-term goal of having a career as an independent investigator focused on the intersection of Alzheimer’s disease and related dementias (ADRD) and substance use. To achieve this goal, she needs to learn more about alcohol use among older adults, and how alcohol use may affect cognitive and brain health in aging. Ms. Makaya Funk-White has identified a team of mentors to help her achieve these goals, and together, they have devised a plan of research and career development training activities that will facilitate attainment of her career goals. For this supplement, she will work with her new mentors, Drs. Emilie Reas and Linda McEvoy, on a research project that is examining whether neuroimaging measures of regional cortical thickness or volume, and measures of microstructural integrity differ by amount of alcohol drinking among healthy, community-dwelling older adults. Participating in this project will help her better understand brain anatomy, neuroimaging techniques, statistical methods, and the impact of alcohol on brain aging in older adults. She will also meet regularly with her current mentor Dr. Alison Moore and engage in a series of directed readings to further her understanding of substance use in older adults. These activities will be complimented by other research training activities such as seminars and workshops and presentations including participation in the activities of the San Diego Alzheimer’s Disease Resource Center for Minority Aging Research (ADRCMAR) and the UCSD Alzheimer’s Disease Research Center (ADRC). The parent grant is a collaboration between UCSD and SDSU to provide mentored training of underrepresented scientists in research on Alzheimer’s disease and related dementias. Ms. Funk-White is an underrepresented scientist whose research will examine the effects of alcohol use on brain aging. Moderate drinking has been suggested to protect against the development of Alzheimer’s disease, but how moderate drinking affects the brains of older adults is not well understood. In the context of this research topic, Ms. Funk- White will also learn about neuroanatomy and neuroimaging, receive training in statistical analyses and scientific writing, and will participate in training activities of the San Diego ADRCMAR as well as the UCSD ADRC to broaden her knowledge of Alzheimer’s disease.