Combining aging surveys to understand memory, Alzheimer's, and dementia care
Official title: Integrating Information about Aging Surveys: Novel Integration of Contextual Data to Study Late-Life Cognition and Alzheimer’s Disease and Related Dementia and Dementia Care
Funded at University of Southern California · NIH-11371146 · Data updated 2026-11-12
This project brings together long-term survey data from many countries and adds things like air pollution and care-policy information to see how they relate to memory, mild cognitive problems, and Alzheimer's risk in older adults.
Quick facts
| Grant type | R01 grant |
|---|---|
| Study type | NIH-funded research |
| Funding institution | University of Southern California NIH-funded |
| Lab location | 1 site (Los Angeles, UNITED STATES) |
| Project start | May 1, 2007 |
| Project end | March 31, 2027 |
| Funding year | 2026 |
| Award (this year) | $4,245,561 |
| NIH project number | 5R01AG030153-21 |
| Project ID | NIH-11371146 on NIH RePORTER |
Who could benefit from this research
✓Could help
Ideal candidates are older adults already enrolled in the Health and Retirement Study network (including those who completed the Harmonized Cognitive Assessment Protocol) or people in the same national cohorts whose survey and address data can be linked to exposures.
✕Less likely to help
People not enrolled in the included cohort studies, those without address-level or survey data, or those seeking immediate medical treatment will not directly benefit from this data-integration project.
What this research studies
If you or a loved one took part in long-running aging surveys, this project links those interviews from the Health and Retirement Study network across 47 countries into one harmonized resource. It adds detailed cognitive testing from the Harmonized Cognitive Assessment Protocol plus life-history and end-of-life interviews to follow thinking and memory over time. The team will estimate air pollution at participants' addresses and merge institutional and policy measures about long-term care to give context to each person's experience. The goal is to make these combined, ready-to-use data available so researchers can study what increases or protects against cognitive decline and how care systems matter.
Why it matters
Potential benefit: If successful, this work could help researchers spot environmental and policy-related factors that affect memory and dementia risk and guide better prevention and care strategies worldwide.
How similar studies have gone: Previous Gateway to Global Aging Data work has successfully harmonized HRS-family data and there is growing evidence linking air pollution to cognitive decline, though large-scale, cross-country exposure linkages are a newer contribution.
Where this research is happening
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University of Southern California
Los Angeles, United States Active
Researchers
- Principal investigator: Lee, Jinkook — University of Southern California
- Study coordinator: Lee, Jinkook
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About this research
- This is an active NIH-funded research project — typically early-stage science, not a clinical trial accepting patient enrollment.
- Some NIH-funded labs run parallel clinical studies or seek volunteers for related work. To check, contact the principal investigator or institution listed above.
- For full project details, budget, and progress reports, visit the official NIH RePORTER page.