Population Based Research for Alzheimer's Innovation (POP BRAIN)
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ABSTRACT Dr. Yaffe's background and accomplishments make her ideally positioned for the proposed R35 Leadership Award in ADRD focusing on the AD/ADRD Research Implementation Milestones for population studies, precision medicine and health disparities. Over the past 20 years, the PI and her team have led a research program in the epidemiology of ADRD. Within this broad theme, Dr. Yaffe has focused on studies aimed at identifying risk factors, particularly those that are modifiable (a key component of the exposome), for pre- clinical cognitive decline and ADRD. Her team has led seminal investigations on physical activity, sleep quality, cardiovascular risk factors, traumatic brain injury and other key risk factors. In order to achieve the next platform of research and training in line with the Population Studies Milestone, the team will create an exciting multidisciplinary program entitled, the UCSF Population Based Research for Alzheimer's Innovation or Pop- BRAIN. Dr. Yaffe has assembled an outstanding multidisciplinary leadership group to advance ADRD population health along a highly innovative and impactful roadmap for discovery and next generation of researchers' development. The R35 mechanism is an ideal platform to enhance Dr. Yaffe's previous line of investigation in population health but also to pivot to greater emphasis on three themes that are nicely aligned with Milestone 1.B: 1) a life-course approach to risk factors and novel analytic approaches to studying the life- course exposome, 2) emphasis on diverse populations and how the exposome and life-course exposures may differ across groups (by race/ethnicity and sex) and provide insight into risk mechanisms and 3) and the relatively unexplored inter-relationship of the exposome, social determinants of health and biological pathways of ADRD. We will conduct these studies using established and novel analytic approaches for investigation in several cohorts that the investigators lead or have extensive experience with. Implementation of this innovative line of investigation will highlight new strategies for prevention, underscore the underpinnings for health disparities in risk of ADRD and offer new insights to the life-course etiology of ADRD. In an equally important mission, the Pop-BRAIN program will foster the careers of junior investigators from a variety of disciplines focused on population health for ADRD. This will involve new resources as well as leveraging and harmonizing existing but disparate programs at UCSF. The program will provide mentoring, didactics, research design and biostatistics guidance, pilot funding and career development activities across several departments in a unified hub dedicated to population health. Due to the caliber of her achievements and deep commitment to improving public health through rigorous scientific inquiry and developing the next generation of investigators, Dr. Yaffe and her Pop-BRAIN multidisciplinary team of experts are in an ideal position to embrace a Leadership Award and deliver on the Milestone in Population Health.
