How housing, education, and jobs affect Alzheimer's risk in Black women
The influence of socioeconomic conditions on the incidence of Alzheimer’s Disease in BWHS
This project looks at whether long-term neighborhood, education, and employment conditions relate to Alzheimer's and related dementia risk in older Black women.
Quick facts
| Grant type | R01 grant |
|---|---|
| Study type | NIH-funded research |
| Funding institution | Boston University Medical Campus NIH-funded |
| Lab location | 1 site (Boston, United States) |
| Project ID | NIH-11390429 on NIH RePORTER |
What this research studies
You will learn from decades of data on Black women across the U.S. by linking participants' home addresses from 1995–2021 to public county and state data on unemployment, poverty, education, and housing. The team will build a more complete measure of socioeconomic conditions and compare it to existing measures. They will identify new cases of Alzheimer's and related dementias by linking women aged 65 and older to Medicare records from 2008–2022. The goal is to see which social and economic pathways are most tied to dementia risk in Black women.
Who could benefit from this research
Good fit: The focus is on Black women aged 65 and older, particularly those with long-term U.S. residence and address history such as participants in the Black Women's Health Study.
Not a fit: Men, people younger than 65, non-Black populations, or those without longitudinal address or Medicare data are unlikely to be directly helped by this specific project.
Why it matters
Potential benefit: If successful, the work could point to social and policy targets to lower dementia risk and reduce disparities for Black women.
How similar studies have performed: Previous research links socioeconomic factors to dementia risk, but using long-term geocoded data to create a comprehensive socioeconomic measure in a large cohort of Black women is relatively new.
Where this research is happening
Boston, United States
- Boston University Medical Campus — Boston, United States (Active)
Researchers
- Principal investigator: Rosenberg, Lynn — Boston University Medical Campus
- Study coordinator: Rosenberg, Lynn
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 below.