How racial and family factors affect Alzheimer's risk in middle-aged adults
Offspring Study of Mechanisms for Racial Disparities in Alzheimer's Disease
This project looks at social and biological reasons memory and thinking problems differ by race in middle-aged adults whose parents had dementia.
Quick facts
| Grant type | R01 grant |
|---|---|
| Study type | NIH-funded research |
| Funding institution | Columbia University Health Sciences NIH-funded |
| Lab location | 1 site (New York, United States) |
| Project ID | NIH-11094054 on NIH RePORTER |
What this research studies
I would join a group of over 1,500 middle-aged children of participants from the Washington Heights/Inwood Columbia Aging Project to learn why cognitive decline and dementia risk differ across racial and ethnic groups. Participants complete thinking and mood tests, answer questions about life and social experiences, and provide blood samples while some have brain MRI scans. The study focuses on Black, Latinx, and White adults who are representative of their communities and whose parents have detailed clinical records. Earlier work from this cohort already shows racial differences in memory, brain structure, and how parental cognition relates to offspring brain health.
Who could benefit from this research
Good fit: Ideal candidates are middle-aged adults—especially Black, Latinx, or White people—whose parent(s) had MCI or Alzheimer's and who can attend clinic visits, give blood, and undergo cognitive testing and MRI.
Not a fit: People outside the middle-age range, without a family history of dementia, or unwilling to provide health information, blood samples, or undergo MRI may not directly benefit from participating.
Why it matters
Potential benefit: Findings could point to social and biological targets to prevent or delay memory loss and help reduce racial gaps in dementia risk.
How similar studies have performed: Previous cohort studies have linked parental dementia to lower offspring cognition and brain changes, but this multi-ethnic, midlife cohort offers a more direct look at racial disparities.
Where this research is happening
New York, United States
- Columbia University Health Sciences — New York, United States (Active)
Researchers
- Principal investigator: Manly, Jennifer Jaie — Columbia University Health Sciences
- Study coordinator: Manly, Jennifer Jaie
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.