Innovation Pilot Awards
Timely dementia diagnosis can help millions of Americans with dementia plan for financial and caregiving needs, adopt lifestyle-based modifications to slow cognitive decline, and access disease modifying treatments that target early stages of the disease. Cognitive assessment can support early detection of cognitive impairment. While healthcare claims are a valuable resource for assessing healthcare use and its association with dementia diagnosis and care, cognitive assessment tests are not typically reported in these data.
The recent discovery of blood-based AD biomarkers and their validation and reliability against the gold standard PET brain imaging in detecting AD pathology, differentiating AD from non-AD dementias, and predicting cognitive decline as well as risk for dementia has revolutionized ADRD research. 34-40 However, the arduous collection of venous blood samples in older, frail adults and the complex processing and storage protocols have severely limited collection of blood in larger populations, especially those living in remote, underserved areas of Wisconsin and across the country.
- Co-Investigators:
- Kali Thomas, PhD; Professor, Johns Hopkins School of Nursing
- Frank Xu, PhD; Assistant Scientist, Johns Hopkins University Bloomberg School of Public Health
The rapid evolution of Alzheimer’s Disease and Related Dementias (ADRD) diagnosis and care necessitates an understanding of the distribution and availabi
Family dynamics, such as warmth of communication and less conflict, may impact epigenetic aging in adulthood and contribute to better health outcomes over the life course. This study will estimate how childhood psychosocial variables measured in late adolescence predict later epigenetic aging as measured using established epigenetic aging markers. The Sibling Interaction and Behavior Study (SIBS), an ongoing study at the Minnesota Center For Twin Family Research (MCTFR), provides an ideal opportunity to address these issues.