Boston University-Demographic and Social Determinants of Healthy Cognitive Aging Research Program (BU-SHARP)

About This Grant

Overall Abstract The Boston University-Quantitative Population Science and Healthy Cognitive Aging Research Program (BU-SHARP) will serve as a hub for interdisciplinary research on Alzheimer’s Disease (AD) and Alzheimer’s Disease-Related Dementias (ADRD). BU-SHARP will concentrate on three research themes: (A) between and within-group patterning of AD/ADRD onset, progression, and consequences across persons with disabilities, underserved rural populations, and other populations disproportionately affected by AD/ADRD, (B) life course individual and interpersonal resources and mechanisms contributing to this patterning, and (C) modifiable influences on AD/ADRD onset, progression, and consequences in these populations. BU-SHARP will collaborate with initiatives across Boston University (BU), drawing on campus-wide strengths in demography, sociology, economics, epidemiology, data science, and related fields to stimulate interdisciplinary research. BU-SHARP will contribute to the future pipeline of AD/ADRD researchers via pilot funding and mentorship to early-stage investigators, enhancing access to data, methodological resources, and technical assistance. Bridging disciplinary divides to share quantitative methods will accelerate AD/ADRD research and generate new insights. BU-SHARP will provide an infrastructure and structured programs focused on enhancing research rigor and innovation (e.g., bi-weekly research accelerator meetings, technical assistance to pilot awardees and collaborators, curated speaker series on innovations in research methods relevant to AD/ADRD), effective research translation (e.g., expert guidance in translating research findings, fostering multiple dissemination channels for scientific findings), and mentorship and support of early-stage researchers (an emerging scholars pilot grant program, structured and individualized mentorship, curated professional development workshops), among other activities. The BU-SHARP Administrative Core will provide leadership and oversee all activities. The Program Development (Pilot) Core will fund 2 early career pilot projects annually (12 total across the 6-year grant), and provide structured mentorship and technical assistance. The Communications & Dissemination Core will collect, curate, and disseminate research findings, ensure cross-disciplinary sharing of research advances, and train a cohort of students to develop expertise in writing and reporting on AD/ADRD via a social science writing fellowship program and a public health journalism program at BU. Through these efforts, BU-SHARP will generate new insights into the behavioral and contextual risk and protective factors that influence cognitive aging and its consequences, contribute to the development of effective prevention strategies, and increase the pipeline of population science AD/ADRD researchers.