The National Institute on Aging began funding seven new projects by CDHA over the last twelve months, including several new this fall! As a whole, the projects bring in millions of dollars in research funding to CDHA and UW-Madison. The projects include a pair of studies that utilize a newly-available longitudinal dataset which tracks the lifetime residence patterns for millions of people. The researchers hope the data will help determine the mechanisms through which previously established correlates between early life experiences and cognitive health and mortality later in life occur for the first time.
- “Researching Epigenetics, Weathering, Aging & Residential Disadvantage (REWARD),” led by Kristen Malecki and Michal Engelman, with co-investigators Katherine Curtis and Reid Alisch, and Corinne Engelman, & Qionshi Lu collaborating
- “The Importance of Place of Birth in Determining Old Age Cognitive Health,” led by Jason Fletcher and Alberto Palloni, with Lindsay Clark, Michal Engelman, & Malia Jones
- “Educational and Early Life Predictors of Mild Cognitive Impairment: New Evidence about Mediators and Moderators from High School & Beyond,” led by John Robert Warren (University of Minnesota), with Eric Grodsky
- “Applying Biodemography Methods to Advance our Understanding of Socioeconomic Risk Factors for Alzheimer’s Disease,” led by Jason Fletcher, with Hyunseung Kang & Qiongshi Lu
- “Understanding the Importance of Place of Birth on Alzheimer’s Disease Outcomes in the US and the UK,” led by Jason Fletcher, with Michal Engelman, Qiongshi Lu, & Alberto Palloni
UW Research has also granted funding to one new CDHA project. The UW2020 initiative, whose mission is to support the most groundbreaking, impactful research happening on campus, has funded CDHA Director Jason Fletcher’s “Wisconsin Longitudinal Study 2020 and Beyond.”