Using health records plus social and biological data to understand dementia in Los Angeles
Leveraging the Electronic Health Record and Integrating Social and Biological Data to Expand Dementia Research in Understudied Populations in Los Angeles County
This project will combine electronic health records with social and genetic information to better understand Alzheimer’s and related dementias in Hispanic/Latinx, Black, and Asian American/Pacific Islander people served by UCLA in Los Angeles.
Quick facts
| Grant type | NIH-funded research |
|---|---|
| Study type | NIH-funded research |
| Funding institution | University of California Los Angeles NIH-funded |
| Lab location | 1 site (Los Angeles, United States) |
| Project ID | NIH-11405076 on NIH RePORTER |
What this research studies
You may be invited to join through your UCLA electronic health record or through partner primary care clinics in Los Angeles County. The team will link medical records with information about social and environmental factors and with genetic data to look for patterns that relate to dementia. They will build cohorts of Hispanic/Latinx, Black, and AAPI patients to make sure findings apply to groups often left out of past work. Results will be used to guide future studies and outreach to those communities.
Who could benefit from this research
Good fit: Ideal candidates are people with Alzheimer’s disease or related dementias who are Hispanic/Latinx, Black, or Asian American/Pacific Islander and receive care within the UCLA Health System or participating partner clinics in Los Angeles County.
Not a fit: People who live outside Los Angeles County or who do not receive care at participating UCLA or partner clinics — and individuals without AD/ADRD who are not part of the cohorts — are unlikely to directly benefit from participation.
Why it matters
Potential benefit: If successful, this work could lead to better understanding of dementia causes and risks in understudied communities, which may improve diagnosis, prevention, and tailored future treatments.
How similar studies have performed: EHR-based recruitment and genomic or social-determinants studies have produced useful insights before, but combining EHR, social/environmental, and genomic data specifically in diverse Los Angeles populations is less common and relatively novel.
Where this research is happening
Los Angeles, United States
- University of California Los Angeles — Los Angeles, United States (Active)
Researchers
- Principal investigator: Vossel, Keith Alan — University of California Los Angeles
- Study coordinator: Vossel, Keith Alan
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.