Document text
Principal Investigator: Paris Adkins-Jackson
Organization: COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY HEALTH SCIENCES
Fiscal Year: 2024
Award: $125,441
Funding agency: National Institute on Aging
PROJECT SUMMARY / ABSTRACT
To reduce racial disparities in Alzheimer’s disease related dementias (ADRD) for US Black and Latinx/a/o older
adults, it is crucial to examine key structural determinants of health that occur across the life course, like
structural racism. However, limited research explores a prominent component of structural racism, adverse
community-level policing (CLP), that Black and Latinx/a/o older adults have consistently encountered across
the life course from historical police-sanctioned lynchings during early life, to police-involved killings, arrests,
and incarcerations of Black and Latinx/a/o persons during midlife. The National Institute of Aging’s Health
Disparities Research Framework identifies political factors as a priority area of research on aging, yet minimal
research exists on this determinant. In this study, I will fill major gaps in understanding how adverse CLP
exposure increases risk for incident dementia, cognitive decline, accelerated aging, and poor psychological
health for Black and Latinx/a/o older adults. The specific research aims are to examine the following among
Black and Latinx/a/o participants in the Health and Retirement Study: Aim 1) Estimate the association between
midlife adverse CLP exposure with depressive symptoms and subjective cognitive function over a 20-year
period starting from the onset of the Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act of 1994. Aim 2) Explore
the relationship between early life adverse CLP exposure with incident dementia and accelerated biological
age after 50. Aim 3) Compare the effects of early and midlife adverse CLP exposure on objectively measured
memory performance in late life. These aims lay the groundwork for a R01 application exploring interventions
to the pathway from adverse CLP exposure to ADRD. Dr. Paris Adkins-Jackson’s long-term career goal is to
become an independent investigator that leads research that explicates the role of structural determinants like
structural racism on ADRD and multidimensional aging for historically marginalized groups like Black and
Latinx/a/o communities. She seeks a K01 Mentored Research Scientist Development Award to obtain critical
content area knowledge on ADRD, cognitive function, and biological aging to complement her expertise in
structural racism and psychological health, which will lead to an independently funded research program. Her
career development plan includes didactic courses and mentored research in ADRD, cognitive function, and
biological aging, and leadership in ADRD disparities research. This training will occur in the rich environment at
Columbia University, including the Mailman School of Public Health and the Gertrude H. Sergievsky Center at
Columbia University Irving Medical Center. Dr. Adkins-Jackson will receive guidance from an experienced
team with a strong track record of mentoring and funding in ADRD, cognitive function, biological aging, and
adverse CLP exposure—many of whom wrote seminal literature on structural racism and ADRD disparities.
Building on such work, this study determines the magnitude of a modifiable factor that may lead to
neurodegeneration and harmful aging.
Terms: <21+ years old><AD related dementia><ADRD><Accountability><Active Learning><Adult><Adult Human><Affect><Aging><Alzheimer's and related dementias><Alzheimer's disease and related dementia><Alzheimer's disease and related disorders><Alzheimer's disease or a related dementia><Alzheimer's disease or a related disorder><Alzheimer's disease or related dementia><Alzheimer's disease related dementia><Amentia><Area><Autoregulation><Award><Biological Aging><Black><Black Populations><Black group><Black individual><Black people><Black race><Blacks><Cardiovascular><Cardiovascular Body System><Cardiovascular Organ System><Cardiovascular system><Cities><Cognitive Disturbance><Cognitive Impairment><Cognitive decline><Cognitive function abnormal><Communities><Complement><Complement Proteins><Cooperative Learning><County><Crime><Data><Dementia><Development Plans><Dimensions><Disadvantaged><Disparities><Disparity><Disturbance in cognition><Drug usage><Emotional Depression><Emotional well being><Environment><Experiential Learning><Exposure to><Fear><Feels well><Frequencies><Fright><Funding><Goals><GrimAge clock><Hannum clock><Health><Health Disparities Research><Health and Retirement Study><Health disparities related research><Heart Vascular><Homeostasis><Horvath clock><Immigration><Impaired cognition><Imprisonment><Incidence><Inflammation><Injury><Intervention><Intervention Strategies><Investigators><Justice><K01 Award><K01 Mechanism><K01 Program><Knowledge><Latina><Latine><Latino><Latino Population><Latino group><Latino individual><Latino people><Latinos><Latinx><Law Enforcement><Leadership><Life><Life Cycle><Life Cycle Stages><Link><Literature><Measures><Medical center><Memory><Mental Health><Mental Health Services><Mental Hygiene><Mental Hygiene Services><Mentored Research Scientist Development Award><Mentored Training Award><Mentors><Names><National Institute of Aging><National Institute on Aging><Neighborhoods><Nerve Degeneration><Neuron Degeneration><Non-Hispanic><Nonhispanic><Normal mental condition><Normal mental state><Normal psyche><Not Hispanic or Latino><Outcome><Paris><Paris, France><Participant><Pathway interactions><Perception><Performance><PhenoAge clocks><Physiological Homeostasis><Police><Police officer><Political Factor><Population><Psychological Health><Psychological Well Being><Public Health Schools><Research><Research Personnel><Research Scientist Development Award><Researchers><Risk><Role><Schools><Science><Seminal><Sense of well-being><Stress><Structural Racism><System><Taxes><Training><Trauma><United States><Universities><Well in self><Work><Writing><accelerated aging><accelerated biological age><accelerated biological aging><adulthood><age acceleration><analyzing longitudinal><biological adaptation to stress><biological process of age><burden of disease><burden of illness><career><career development><circulatory system><cognitive dysfunction><cognitive function><cognitive loss><community marginalization><complementation><dementia risk><depression symptom><depressive><depressive symptoms><deprivation><disease burden><disparities in race><disparity due to race><disparity in health><drug use><emotional wellbeing><emotional wellness><epigenetic age clocks><epigenetic clock><epigenetic molecular clocks><experience><health data><health disparities science><health disparity><healthy aging><healthy human aging><incarcerated><incarceration><inequality due to race><inequity due to race><injuries><intergenerational><interventional strategy><killings><late life><life course><life history><longitudinal analysis><marginalized community><marginalized group><marginalized individual><marginalized people><marginalized population><mental health care><mental healthcare><mental well-being><mental wellbeing><mental wellness><methylation clock><mid life><mid-life><middle age><middle aged><midlife><name><named><naming><neural degeneration><neurodegeneration><neurodegenerative><neurological degeneration><neuronal degeneration><older adult><older adulthood><pathway><post-trauma stress><post-traumatic stress><posttrauma stress><posttraumatic stress><programs><psychologic><psychological><psychological wellbeing><psychological wellness><race based disparity><race based inequality><race based inequity><race disparity><race related disparity><race related inequality><race related inequity><racial disparity><racial inequality><racial inequity><racially unequal><racism><reaction; crisis><residential segregation><risk factor for dementia><risk for dementia><segregation><self wellness><sense of wellbeing><social><social role><statistics><stress response><stress; reaction><structural determinants><structural factors><structural health determinants><violent crime>