Staying mentally sharp into your 90s
Official title: Cognitively Healthy Nonagenarians in the Cross Cohort Collaboration (CCC)
Funded at University of Texas Hlth Science Center · NIH-11470425 · Data updated 2026-11-12
This project combines long-term health information to learn why some people stay mentally sharp past age 90 while others develop dementia.
Quick facts
| Grant type | R01 grant |
|---|---|
| Study type | NIH-funded research |
| Funding institution | University of Texas Hlth Science Center NIH-funded |
| Lab location | 1 site (San Antonio, United States) |
| Project start | September 1, 2018 |
| Project end | January 31, 2031 |
| Funding year | 2026 |
| Award (this year) | $102,360 |
| NIH project number | 3R01AG059421-02S1 |
| Project ID | NIH-11470425 on NIH RePORTER |
Who could benefit from this research
✓Could help
Ideal participants are older adults (especially people aged 85 or older) who have long-term medical, cognitive, or biological data available or who are enrolled in one of the contributing cohort studies.
✕Less likely to help
People without long-term follow-up data or biological samples, and those seeking immediate treatment options, are unlikely to get direct benefit from this project.
What this research studies
You would be represented by long-term health and cognitive data from people who were followed from middle age into their 80s and 90s. Researchers will combine multiple cohort studies so there are enough people who reached age 90 without dementia to compare with those who developed dementia. They will examine past medical history, genetics (for example APOE), brain markers such as Aβ-42, vascular and lifestyle risks, and other health measures to look for patterns of risk and resilience. The work pools existing clinical records and biological measures rather than testing new treatments.
Why it matters
Potential benefit: If successful, this research could reveal factors and biomarkers that help prevent or delay dementia in very old adults.
How similar studies have gone: Previous pooled cohort efforts have successfully identified Alzheimer and vascular risk factors, but focusing on resilience and cognitive health specifically in the nonagenarian population is less commonly studied and relatively novel.
Where this research is happening
-
University of Texas Hlth Science Center
San Antonio, United States Active
Researchers
- Principal investigator: Seshadri, Sudha — University of Texas Hlth Science Center
- Study coordinator: Seshadri, Sudha
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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.