We investigate risk and resilience factors associated with cognitive decline and dementia among older adults in several large-scale ongoing epidemiological studies.
A brief description of current epidemiological studies under investigation can be found below.
Population-Based Research for Alzheimer's Innovation (Pop-BRAIN)
UCSF Pop-BRAIN is a multidisciplinary platform aimed at accelerating Alzheimer’s disease and related dementias (ADRD) population-based research and training the next generation of leaders in the field. The program emphasizes the life-course approach, diverse populations, and the inter-relationship of the exposome, social determinants of health, and biological pathways of ADRD.
P.I.: Kristine Yaffe, MD
The Systematic Multi-Domain Alzheimer's Risk Reduction Trial (SMARRT)
The SMARRT study is the first U.S. randomized pilot trial to test a personalized, pragmatic, multi-domain Alzheimer's disease risk reduction intervention. This study will help determine whether Alzheimer's risk reduction can slow cognitive decline in higher-risk patients.
P.I.(s): Kristine Yaffe, MD | Eric B. Larson, MD, MPH
Long-Term Impact of Military-Relevant Brain Injury Consortium (LIMBIC): Epidemiology Study
LIMBIC is a multi-center collaboration linking researchers from the DoD, VA, academic universities, and private research institutes to fill the gaps in knowledge about the basic science, risk, outcomes, and effective treatments for mild TBI. The LIMBIC Epidemiological study will build upon our nearly 2 million veteran data repository and examine neurodegenerative outcomes of mild TBI in Veterans over time.
P.I.(s): Kristine Yaffe, MD | David Cifu, MD
Lifecourse CVD Risk and Midlife Cognitive Trajectories and Brain Aging (CARDIA-COG)
The CARDIA-COG study aims to collect cognitive data from the ongoing multisite Coronary Artery Risk Development in Young Adults (CARDIA) study of 5115 Black and white adults in order to determine cardiovascular risk factors for cognitive aging in the mid to late-life transition and to investigate how these are related to structural brain changes.
P.I.(s): Kristine Yaffe, MD | Stephen Sidney, MD, MPH
Neuroimaging Endophenotypes & Predictors Post-TBI Dementia in A Nationwide Cohort of Veterans
This project aims to create the largest military-relevant TBI MRI dataset that has ever been created to leverage neuroimaging and biomarker discovery via artificial intelligence approaches. The goal is to develop a method for predicting the risk of post-TBI dementia and discover neuroimaging biomarkers that can be used to characterize dementia subtypes among TBI-exposed individuals.
More information on this project can be found here.
P.I.(s): Kristine Yaffe, MD | Duygu Tosun-Turgut, PhD | Raquel Gardner, MD
Sleep Quality and Mechanistic Links to Alzheimer Disease and Related Disorders among older Mexican Americans and Non-Hispanic Whites (HABLE-DORMIR)
This project leverages the ongoing Health & Aging Brain among Latino Elders (HABLE) study to determine the association between sleep quality and cognitive impairment including ADRD among community-dwelling Mexican Americans and Non-Hispanic Whites, and to elucidate targeted pathways linking these conditions.
More information on HABLE-DORMIR can be found here.
P.I.(s): Kristine Yaffe, MD | Sid O'Bryant, PhD
Health Disparities in Alzheimer’s Disease Among Mexican Americans (HABS-HD)
The long-term goal of this research is to address two important health disparities faced by Mexican Americans suffering from ADRD and mild cognitive impairment (MCI): (1) younger age of onset and (2) decreased access to early detection and treatment. We will identify different pathways and blood-based biomarkers for MCI and AD among Mexican Americans
More information on the HABS-HD study can be found here.
P.I.(s): Kristine Yaffe, MD | Sid O'Bryant, PhD | Arthur W. Toga, PhD
The goal of this project is to investigate mitochondrial DNA mutations as a blood biomarker of greater cognitive decline and accelerated brain aging during midlife and of Alzheimer’s disease and related dementias (ADRD) diagnosis in late life.
More information on this project can be found here.
P.I.(s): Kristine Yaffe, MD | Andrea Baccarelli, MD, PhD | Lifang Hou, MD, MS, PhD
Military Risk Factors and Dementia in Veterans: The Impact of Race and Social Determinants of Health
The goal of this project is to investigate the effects of military risk factors, social determinants of health, and how they interact with race/ethnicity on the risk of dementia.
P.I.: Kristine Yaffe, MD
ADRD Risk and Resilience among American Indian and Alaskan Natives: Implications for Prevention
The goal of this project is to study risk and resiliency factors for ADRD in American Indian and Alaskan Native adults while also examining the complex of role of social determinants of health.
P.I.: Kristine Yaffe, MD
TBI Activation and Rehabilitation in Veterans (TRAIN-Vets)
TRAIN-Vets is a randomized clinical trial in collaboration with the Palo Alto VA. The trial will evaluate the impact of a multidomain cognitive training program on improving cognitive function in older adults with traumatic brain injury and subjective cognitive complaints. This project will have important implications for future clinical guidelines and treatment recommendations for older adults with cognitive impairment.
P.I.(s): Kristine Yaffe, MD | J. Kaci Fairchild, PhD, ABPP | Erica Kornblith, PhD
Hypertension, Blood Pressure Targets, and Alzheimer’s Disease and Dementia Risk and Disparities among Nationally Representative US Veterans
This study will investigate the association between hypertension and ADRD risk among US veterans and within race/ethnicity and regional subgroups, as well as examine the influence of military-related exposures (TBI, PTSD) on this relationship. Dr. Yaffe's team will also estimate hypertension treatment effects at various treatment targets for reduction in ADRD risk. This investigation into key modifiable risk factors and subgroups of race/ethnicity and region in relation to ADRD risk holds significant implications for ADRD prevention.
P.I.: Kristine Yaffe, MD | Adina Zeki Al Hazzouri, PhD | Sebastian Calonico, PhD
Early mid-life environmental toxicant exposures and AD/ADRD risk in CARDIA
This study aims to uncover the long-term effects of early exposure to environmental toxicants on the development of ADRD. It will employ advanced techniques in exposomic, genomic, epigenomic, transcriptomic data analyses to trace the biological impact of the toxicants and understand their role in cognitive decline and changes in brain structure. The research also seeks to understand the social determinants of health that contribute to racial disparities in AD/ADRD development, striving for a comprehensive view of environmental and societal influences.
P.I.(s): Kristine Yaffe, MD | Aimin Chen, MD, PhD | Lifang Hou, MD, PhD | Dean Paul Jones, PhD