REVISED ABSTRACT: Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is a major and increasing public health crisis in the United States (US) and a growing health problem.1, 2 We seek to build on the experience of an interdisciplinary team in AD/ADRD-relevant research to support early career researchers and mid-career scientists newly transitioning into AD/ADRD-relevant research carrying out research of high quality intended to prevent cognitive and functional decline in older adults from different social and economic groups and reduce variations across groups in incidence of AD/ADRD. The faculty of this AD-RCMAR are from the Johns Hopkins Schools of Public Health, Nursing, and Medicine, Morgan State University, and North Carolina A&T University and have decades of experience working with older adults from different backgrounds, and the community organizations that serve them. All are nationally recognized mentors with substantial experience training early career scholars. The overall aims for this renewal application of the Leadership and Administrative Core (LAC) are to provide governance and administration of the Center, to facilitate the training and development of RCMAR Scientists, and to advance the field of research on aging on different social and economic groups on AD/ADRD. The LAC will provide essential leadership and structure for this AD-RCMAR and its mentoring, data collection, analysis, analysis, intervention, implementation, and dissemination activities, providing coordination and integration across the Cores and Pilot Studies, while maintaining communications with other NIA Research Centers, and external funding and oversight entities. The LAC will work closely with the Research Education Component, Community-Liaison and Recruitment Core, and the Analysis Core to accomplish these aims, thereby advancing our understanding of social and behavioral aspects of aging from different social and economic groups to ameliorate variations across groups relevant to AD/ADRD. The MPI’s (Drs. Thorpe and Gallo) will be responsible for oversight of all Center activities to ensure accountability and responsiveness to evolving scientific opportunities and public health needs, including quality control of research, protection of human research participants, supervision of administrative functions, fiscal oversight, interfacing with the External Advisory Committee, and liaison with grant agencies and officials of Johns Hopkins University and participating Centers and Universities.
The Schools of Medicine, Nursing, and Public Health of the Johns Hopkins University are proposing to renew the Johns Hopkins Alzheimer’s Disease RCMAR in response to RFA-AG-23-025. The aims of this application are to: (1) mentor early-stage investigators in aging on different social and economic groups and health research, with a focus on Alzheimer’s disease (AD) and AD-related dementias (ADRD), using a life course perspective encompassing biological, behavioral, and community factors contributing to cognitive impairment and dementia in older adults; (2) conduct epidemiological, preventive, and intervention research that addresses AD/ADRD in later life within a multi-level framework that encompasses individuals, families, social networks, and communities; and 3) engage communities and care providers – especially family caregivers, primary care practices, communities of faith, and community organizations – as our partners in recognizing dementia and developing interventions with the potential to prevent cognitive decline and reduce AD/ADRD dementia risk in older adults from different social and economic groups. The JHAD-RCMAR consists of: (1) a Leadership and Administrative Core whose function is to provide governance and an administrative structure, to support research, to foster interactions between Cores and other Centers and Universities, and to ensure RCMAR Scientists develop mentoring relationships across the affiliated departments, schools, and nationally; (2) a Research Education Component to foster junior investigators and mid-career investigators transitioning into ADRD-relevant research through support for individual pilot projects, career mentoring, scholar-to-scholar interactions, and role modeling; (3) a Community-Liaison and Recruitment Core to ensure the relevance of the AD/ADRD research and to increase knowledge of engagement of community members in the research enterprise with the further development of a Community Resource Institute as a venue for community-investigator interaction; and (4) an Analysis Core as a foundation for methodological and statistical training, including education and mentoring in mixed-methods research. An Executive Committee includes community representatives, and an External Advisory Committee consists of distinguished investigators with relevant expertise in aging on different social and economic groups and AD/ADRD. A pilot project program supported by all Cores to facilitate the development of RCMAR Scientists includes three initial pilot projects focusing on legal needs of men with dementia and their care partners; Closing the economic gap in cognitive health; and Dementia caregiving experiences for older parents Our renewal reflects our interdisciplinary team’s desire to continue mentoring and advancing research on aging on different social and economic groups on AD/ADRD.
