R01AG095513
Project Grant
Overview
Grant Description
EXAMINING UNIQUE MARKERS AND RISK FACTORS FOR AD/ADRD IN FOREIGN- AND NATIVE-BORN OLDER CHINESE AMERICANS: A STUDY OF SOCIAL DETERMINANTS OF HEALTH, SLEEP PATTERNS, NEUROIMAGING, AND PLASMA BIOMARKERS - CHINESE AMERICANS ARE ONE OF THE FASTEST-GROWING POPULATIONS IN THE U.S.; HOWEVER, THEIR PARTICIPATION IN ALZHEIMER’S DISEASE AND ALZHEIMER’S DISEASE-RELATED DEMENTIAS (AD/ADRD) RESEARCH REMAINS LOW. THIS LACK OF REPRESENTATION MAY MASK HEALTH OUTCOMES IN THIS GROUP, WHICH VARIES BY GENERATION STATUS (FOREIGN- VS. NATIVE-BORN) AND SOCIAL DETERMINANTS OF HEALTH (SDOH). SDOH FACTORS INCLUDE, BUT ARE NOT LIMITED TO ACCULTURATION, LANGUAGE PROFICIENCY, HEALTHCARE ACCESS, EDUCATIONAL QUALITY, STRESS, ENVIRONMENTAL EXPOSURES, AND SOCIAL SUPPORT NETWORKS, WHICH CAN CONTRIBUTE TO HEALTH DISPARITIES IN CHINESE AMERICAN OLDER ADULTS, WORSENING AD/ADRD OUTCOMES. HOWEVER, THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN SDOH AND AD/ADRD RISKS IN THIS POPULATION IS NOT WELL-STUDIED, PARTICULARLY IN RELATION TO OTHER HEALTH ISSUES LIKE SLEEP DISRUPTION, WHICH IS PREVALENT IN OLDER POPULATIONS. CONSISTENT WITH THE EXISTING LITERATURE, OUR PRELIMINARY RESEARCH SUGGESTS THAT FOREIGN-BORN CHINESE AMERICANS EXPERIENCE POORER SLEEP QUALITY. HOWEVER, IT IS UNCLEAR WHETHER THERE IS AN ASSOCIATION BETWEEN SLEEP DISRUPTION AND ELEVATED AD/ADRD BIOMARKERS, AS HAS BEEN OBSERVED IN NON-HISPANIC WHITE PARTICIPANTS. OVERALL, DIFFERENCES IN COGNITIVE FUNCTION AND AD/ADRD BIOMARKERS MAY EXIST BETWEEN FOREIGN- AND NATIVE-BORN OLDER CHINESE AMERICANS DUE TO DIFFERENTIAL EXPERIENCES OF SDOH, INCLUDING STRESS, WHICH HAS BEEN LINKED TO AD/ADRD-RELATED FUNCTIONAL/STRUCTURAL CHANGES (E.G., HIPPOCAMPAL ATROPHY) AND INCREASED LEVELS OF AΒ PRODUCTION IN OTHER GROUPS. OUR TEAM DEMONSTRATED THAT INCREASED LEVELS OF DISTRESS WAS ASSOCIATED WITH HIGHER LEVELS OF PLASMA P-TAU LEVEL AND BETTER PERFORMANCE ON TESTS OF ATTENTION, EXECUTIVE FUNCTION, PROCESSING SPEED, AND MEMORY IN A SMALL SAMPLE OF OLDER CHINESE AMERICANS. YET, A LIMITED NUMBER OF STUDIES HAVE EXPLORED THESE RELATIONSHIPS SPECIFICALLY IN A WELL-CHARACTERIZED SAMPLE OF CHINESE AMERICAN OLDER ADULTS BORN IN AND OUTSIDE OF THE US. THIS STUDY AIMS TO ADDRESS THESE GAPS BY EXAMINING THE INTERPLAY BETWEEN SDOH, SLEEP DISRUPTION, AND BIOLOGICAL FACTORS IN AD/ADRD RISKS AMONG OLDER CHINESE AMERICANS. THE RESEARCH TEAM WILL RECRUIT 250 PARTICIPANTS (125 FOREIGN-BORN AND 125 NATIVE-BORN) FOR BASELINE EVALUATIONS AND 200 PARTICIPANTS (100 FOREIGN- BORN AND 100 NATIVE-BORN) FOR ONE- AND TWO-YEAR FOLLOW-UPS. THE STUDY WILL USE OBJECTIVE MEASURES LIKE AT- HOME SLEEP TESTS, COGNITIVE TESTING, PET/MR, AND BLOOD-BASED PROTEOMIC AND SINGLE CELL MULTIOMIC BIOMARKERS TO INVESTIGATE HOW SLEEP DISTURBANCES AND SDOH CONTRIBUTE TO AD/ADRD RISKS. ADDITIONALLY, A NOVEL, INTEGRATIVE NETWORK BIOLOGY AND MACHINE LEARNING (ML) BASED APPROACH WILL BE EMPLOYED TO DEVELOP HIGHLY PREDICTIVE DIAGNOSTIC AND PROGNOSTIC BIOMARKERS OF AD/ADRD BY INTEGRATING ALL CLINICAL, IMAGING AND MULTIOMIC DATA. THIS PROJECT, CONSISTENT WITH NIH PRIORITIES, WILL PROVIDE CRUCIAL DATA TO UNDERSTAND THE UNIQUE HEALTH DISPARITIES FACED BY CHINESE AMERICANS IN AD/ADRD RESEARCH.
Funding Goals
TO ENCOURAGE BIOMEDICAL, SOCIAL, AND BEHAVIORAL RESEARCH AND RESEARCH TRAINING DIRECTED TOWARD GREATER UNDERSTANDING OF THE AGING PROCESS AND THE DISEASES, SPECIAL PROBLEMS, AND NEEDS OF PEOPLE AS THEY AGE. THE NATIONAL INSTITUTE ON AGING HAS ESTABLISHED PROGRAMS TO PURSUE THESE GOALS. THE DIVISION OF AGING BIOLOGY EMPHASIZES UNDERSTANDING THE BASIC BIOLOGICAL PROCESSES OF AGING. THE DIVISION OF GERIATRICS AND CLINICAL GERONTOLOGY SUPPORTS RESEARCH TO IMPROVE THE ABILITIES OF HEALTH CARE PRACTITIONERS TO RESPOND TO THE DISEASES AND OTHER CLINICAL PROBLEMS OF OLDER PEOPLE. THE DIVISION OF BEHAVIORAL AND SOCIAL RESEARCH SUPPORTS RESEARCH THAT WILL LEAD TO GREATER UNDERSTANDING OF THE SOCIAL, CULTURAL, ECONOMIC AND PSYCHOLOGICAL FACTORS THAT AFFECT BOTH THE PROCESS OF GROWING OLD AND THE PLACE OF OLDER PEOPLE IN SOCIETY. THE DIVISION OF NEUROSCIENCE FOSTERS RESEARCH CONCERNED WITH THE AGE-RELATED CHANGES IN THE NERVOUS SYSTEM AS WELL AS THE RELATED SENSORY, PERCEPTUAL, AND COGNITIVE PROCESSES ASSOCIATED WITH AGING AND HAS A SPECIAL EMPHASIS ON ALZHEIMER'S DISEASE. SMALL BUSINESS INNOVATION RESEARCH (SBIR) PROGRAM: TO EXPAND AND IMPROVE THE SBIR PROGRAM, TO INCREASE PRIVATE SECTOR COMMERCIALIZATION OF INNOVATIONS DERIVED FROM FEDERAL RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT, TO INCREASE SMALL BUSINESS PARTICIPATION IN FEDERAL RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT, AND TO FOSTER AND ENCOURAGE PARTICIPATION OF SOCIALLY AND ECONOMICALLY DISADVANTAGED SMALL BUSINESS CONCERNS AND WOMEN-OWNED SMALL BUSINESS CONCERNS IN TECHNOLOGICAL INNOVATION. SMALL BUSINESS TECHNOLOGY TRANSFER (STTR) PROGRAM: TO STIMULATE AND FOSTER SCIENTIFIC AND TECHNOLOGICAL INNOVATION THROUGH COOPERATIVE RESEARCH DEVELOPMENT CARRIED OUT BETWEEN SMALL BUSINESS CONCERNS AND RESEARCH INSTITUTIONS, TO FOSTER TECHNOLOGY TRANSFER BETWEEN SMALL BUSINESS CONCERNS AND RESEARCH INSTITUTIONS, TO INCREASE PRIVATE SECTOR COMMERCIALIZATION OF INNOVATIONS DERIVED FROM FEDERAL RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT, AND TO FOSTER AND ENCOURAGE PARTICIPATION OF SOCIALLY AND ECONOMICALLY DISADVANTAGED SMALL BUSINESS CONCERNS AND WOMEN-OWNED SMALL BUSINESS CONCERNS IN TECHNOLOGICAL INNOVATION.
Grant Program (CFDA)
Awarding / Funding Agency
Place of Performance
New York
United States
Geographic Scope
State-Wide
Related Opportunity
Icahn School Of Medicine At Mount Sinai was awarded
Chinese American AD/ADRD Study: SDOH, Sleep Patterns & Biomarkers
Project Grant R01AG095513
worth $4,035,962
from National Institute on Aging in September 2025 with work to be completed primarily in New York United States.
The grant
has a duration of 5 years and
was awarded through assistance program 93.866 Aging Research.
The Project Grant was awarded through grant opportunity NIH Research Project Grant (Parent R01 Clinical Trial Not Allowed).
Status
(Ongoing)
Last Modified 9/24/25
Period of Performance
9/15/25
Start Date
8/31/30
End Date
Funding Split
$4.0M
Federal Obligation
$0.0
Non-Federal Obligation
$4.0M
Total Obligated
Activity Timeline
Additional Detail
Award ID FAIN
R01AG095513
SAI Number
R01AG095513-2514018795
Award ID URI
SAI UNAVAILABLE
Awardee Classifications
Private Institution Of Higher Education
Awarding Office
75NN00 NIH National Insitute on Aging
Funding Office
75NN00 NIH National Insitute on Aging
Awardee UEI
C8H9CNG1VBD9
Awardee CAGE
1QSQ9
Performance District
NY-90
Senators
Kirsten Gillibrand
Charles Schumer
Charles Schumer
Modified: 9/24/25