Notice Number: NOT-AG-16-019

Key Dates
Release Date: September 21, 2015

Issued by
National Institute on Aging (NIA)

Purpose

The purpose of the Notice is to revise the Objectives of the FOA as indicated in the Funding Opportunity Description.

Part 2. Section I. Funding Opportunity Description

FOA currently reads:

Objectives

The goal of this FOA is to encourage research grant applications that examine mediators of disparities in Alzheimer’s disease, using diverse cohorts of subjects.

This program encourages applications with the following characteristics:

• Alzheimer’s disease and related dementias risk and diversity.  Robust estimates of AD and related dementias are needed in diverse populations.  Research is encouraged on the recruitment of cohorts that include diverse subjects to conduct standardized diagnostic evaluations.  Research is needed to understand the demographic diversity of dementia risk and whether this risk can attribute to factors of health disparities.
• Effect of Educational Attainment on Dementia Risk.  While the large growth in the number of older adults in the coming decades will lead to an increase in dementia cases in countries around the world, a number of recent studies have suggested that the age-specific risk of dementia has actually decreased in some high-income countries over the last 20 years, possibly due to increasing levels of education.  Research is needed to understand the mechanisms by which education contributes to declines in the age-specific risk of dementia, whether this trend  will continue in the face of rising levels of obesity and diabetes, and whether there has been a similar or opposite trend in demographically diversity population. 
• Diversity and cognitive change over time.  Multiple factors, in addition to race/ethnicity, need to be considered when studying the status of cognitive change over time.  Analyses of the relationship of race, education, comorbidities, geographic location, and additional demographic diversity on dementia risk and cognitive resilience using existing data are encouraged.
• Diagnosis and assessment procedures.  Procedures for cognitive assessment need to be evaluated in concert with environmental, sociocultural, behavioral and biological factors.  Research is encouraged on disparities in cognitive testing procedures, clinic participation rates, and validity of assessment procedures.
• Neuroimaging, neuropathology and the biology of AD.  Neuroimaging techniques and post mortem evaluations need to be increased in underrepresented populations.  Research studies are encouraged focusing on the analysis of the multifactorial effects of factors and demographic diversity on the biology of AD and neuroimaging outcomes as such research may highlight the effect some risk factors have on the development of AD.  This includes 1) determinants of brain anatomy and cognitive ability; 2) neuropathological identification of disease; and 3) identification of biologic markers.
• Strategies for recruitment and retention.  Using novel recruitment strategies (including those described in Summit recommendations), research is also encouraged on overcoming logistical barriers specific to AD and related dementia research and disparities in clinical research and clinical trial participation.  For further information of this need, see “Obstacles and Opportunities in Alzheimer’s Clinical Trials Recruitment” at:https://www.nia.nih.gov/alzheimers/features/nia-grantees-focus-alzheimers-recruitment-policy-issues-health-affairs-forum.

FOA is modified to read:

Objectives

The goal of this FOA is to encourage research grant applications that examine mediators of disparities in Alzheimer’s disease, using diverse cohorts of subjects.

This program encourages applications with the following characteristics:

• Alzheimer’s disease and related dementias risk and diversity. Robust estimates of AD and related dementias are needed in diverse populations. Research is encouraged on the recruitment of cohorts that include diverse subjects to conduct standardized diagnostic evaluations. Research is needed to understand the demographic diversity of dementia risk and whether this risk can attribute to factors of health disparities.
• Effect of Educational Attainment on Dementia Risk. While the large growth in the number of older adults in the coming decades will lead to an increase in dementia cases in countries around the world, a number of recent studies have suggested that the age-specific risk of dementia has actually decreased in some high-income countries over the last 20 years, possibly due to increasing levels of education. Research is needed to understand the mechanisms by which education contributes to declines in the age-specific risk of dementia, whether this trend will continue in the face of rising levels of obesity and diabetes, and whether there has been a similar or opposite trend in demographically diversity population.
• Diversity and cognitive change over time. Multiple factors, in addition to race/ethnicity, need to be considered when studying the status of cognitive change over time. Analyses of the relationship of race, education, comorbidities, geographic location, and additional demographic diversity on dementia risk and cognitive resilience using existing data are encouraged.
• Diagnosis and assessment procedures. Procedures for cognitive assessment need to be evaluated in concert with environmental, sociocultural, behavioral and biological factors. Research is encouraged on disparities in cognitive testing procedures, clinic participation rates, and validity of assessment procedures.
• Neuroimaging, neuropathology and the biology of AD. Neuroimaging techniques and post mortem evaluations need to be increased in underrepresented populations. Research studies are encouraged focusing on the analysis of the multifactorial effects of factors and demographic diversity on the biology of AD and neuroimaging outcomes as such research may highlight the effect some risk factors have on the development of AD. This includes 1) determinants of brain anatomy and cognitive ability; 2) neuropathological identification of disease; and 3) identification of biologic markers.
• Analyses of pathways that create and sustain AD disparities. Investigators are encouraged to focus on biological indicators to link with behavioral, sociocultural or environmental factors to understand disparities in AD.  Biological indicators of interest include, but are not limited to, physiological indicators, genetic stability, cellular function and communication, mitochondrial dysfunction, cellular senescence, cellular stress response, intercellular communication, epigenetic alteration and telomere attrition.
• Strategies for recruitment and retention. Using novel recruitment strategies (including those described in Summit recommendations), research is also encouraged on overcoming logistical barriers specific to AD and related dementia research and disparities in clinical research and clinical trial participation. For further information of this need, see “Obstacles and Opportunities in Alzheimer’s Clinical Trials Recruitment” at: https://www.nia.nih.gov/alzheimers/features/nia-grantees-focus-alzheimers-recruitment-policy-issues-health-affairs-forum.

All other aspects of this FOA remain the same.

Inquiries

Please direct all inquiries to:

Cerise Elliott, Ph.D.
National Institute on Aging (NIA)
Telephone: 301-496-9350
Email: elliottce@mail.nih.gov