The National Institutes of Health has awarded researchers at the University of California San Diego and UC Davis a $15.85 million grant to support the next phase of a major study on brain aging in Hispanic and Latino communities, according to an April 2 announcement.
Latinos are one of the fastest-growing groups in the United States and face higher risks for heart disease, vascular conditions, mild cognitive impairment, and dementia compared to other populations. Despite these risks, Latinos have been underrepresented in research on aging and dementia. The new funding will help create what researchers describe as the most comprehensive long-term dataset on Hispanic and Latino brain aging so far.
“Latino communities have been historically overlooked in aging research. This grant allows us to change that,” said Hector González, Ph.D., co-principal investigator on the grant and professor of neurosciences at UC San Diego School of Medicine. “By studying brain health in a diverse and deeply characterized Latino cohort, we can develop better tools for early detection and more effective strategies for prevention that truly reflect our communities.”
The study aims to track changes in brain function among Latinos from various backgrounds over time. Charles DeCarli, principal investigator at UC Davis and co-director of its Alzheimer’s Disease Research Center, said: “Our goal is to identify the factors that matter most for healthy cognitive aging — and ultimately reduce the burden of dementia for millions of families.” He added: “Our new study will give us an unprecedented ability to understand how the brain changes over time in Latino communities.”
Researchers first launched this effort with the Hispanic Community Health Study/Study of Latinos (HCHS/SOL) in 2008. That project enrolled more than 16,000 participants from continental (Mexico, South America, Central America) as well as Caribbean (Cuba, Dominican Republic, Puerto Rico) origins across four U.S. cities: Miami, San Diego, Chicago, and New York.
DeCarli said HCHS/SOL was unique because it included representative samples from different Hispanic-Latino backgrounds with varying social environments and genetic profiles that may influence dementia risk.
In collaboration with other scientists through a sub-study called SOL-INCA-MRI—which gathered MRI scans from 2,668 participants—researchers examined how sleep patterns, blood vessel health,and genetics affect brain aging.
With this new NIH funding,the team plans a shift toward long-term tracking by following about 1, adults over approximately twelve years.They will collect repeated MRI scans,blood biomarkers,lifestyle data,and results from cognitive testing.The goals include identifying early signs of memory decline,finding reasons behind higher ratesof vascular-relatedbrain disease among Latinos,pinpointing modifiable risk factors,and exploring how cultural,social,and environmental influences interactwith genetic risks.
“This new grant will allow us to build on our previous workand better understandthe temporal factors affecting MCIand dementia,” DeCarli said.González explained,“We wantto addressdementiaand Alzheimer’s disease,but we also wantto addressother pathologies contributingto badbrainaging.What’s truly uniqueand powerfulaboutthisstudyis therecognition appreciationand emphasis on understandingtheseotherpathologiesby usingdatafrom MRIsand biomarker panels.”
The broader impactof thiswork couldlead tomore tailored approachesfor preventingcognitive declineinLatino populationsand potentiallyinform similar effortsfor otherunderstudied groups.
