# Alzheimer's  disease and related dementias in a diverse cohort of Asian Americans

> **NIH NIH R01** · UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA LOS ANGELES · 2021 · $532,259

## Abstract

PROJECT SUMMARY
Over one in four Asian Americans who survive to age 65 can expect to be diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease
and related dementias (ADRD), yet Asian Americans are under-represented in ADRD research, and
heterogeneity in risk across Asian ethnic groups is poorly understood. In the most comprehensive study to
date, our research team discovered marked differences in ADRD incidence between Asian American ethnic
groups (ADRD incidence was 27% higher in Filipino Americans than Chinese Americans). Despite the major
differences in ADRD risk between groups, all Asian ethnic groups had lower ADRD risk than non-Latino whites
(25% higher rate in non-Latino whites than Asian Americans). These findings have major public health
implications: reducing ADRD rates in all racial/ethnic groups to rates observed in Asian Americans would
prevent >190,000 ADRD cases annually in the U.S. Yet it is unknown why Asian Americans have lowered
ADRD incidence or why Asian ethnic groups differ. Disentangling these puzzles will inform our understanding
of the determinants of ADRD in people of all racial/ethnic backgrounds and help address the major gap in
research on drivers of health in Asian Americans, the fastest growing racial/ethnic group in the U.S. The overall
objective of this application is to examine how social factors, cardiometabolic health, and genetic factors
contribute to lower ADRD risk in Asian Americans and differences in risk between Asian ethnic groups (Filipino
Americans, Chinese Americans, and Japanese Americans). The rationale for the proposed research is that
delineating risk and protective factors for ADRD in Asian Americans will unlock why Asian Americans have
lower ADRD risk than other racial/ethnic groups and identify potential strategies to prevent ADRD and reduce
ADRD disparities. We have assembled survey data, neighborhood information, and 24 years of medical
records on ~12,000 Filipino, Japanese, and Chinese American Kaiser health plan members that will be
matched 1:3 to a sample of non-Latino whites. Further, approximately 25% of the sample has genotype data
available. This is the largest, most diverse longitudinal sample of Asian Americans with a rich set of biomedical
and social data relevant to ADRD available. Our Specific Aims are: 1) evaluate the role of social factors
(generational status, educational attainment, income, neighborhood disadvantage metrics, neighborhood
ethnic enclaves) on ADRD risk in Asian Americans; 2) evaluate the role of cardiometabolic health (diabetes,
hypertension, stroke) on ADRD risk in Asian Americans; 3) determine whether genetic ancestry and APOE
genotype influence variation in ADRD incidence observed in Asian Americans. Examining the roles of social,
cardiometabolic, and genetic factors on ADRD risk in a large, diverse cohort of Asian Americans and whites
will provide valuable information to prevent ADRD in people of all racial/ethnic backgrounds and reduce ADRD
disparities.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10137866
- **Project number:** 5R01AG063969-03
- **Recipient organization:** UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA LOS ANGELES
- **Principal Investigator:** Elizabeth Rose Mayeda
- **Activity code:** R01 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2021
- **Award amount:** $532,259
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 2019-09-01 → 2023-04-30

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10137866

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10137866, Alzheimer's  disease and related dementias in a diverse cohort of Asian Americans (5R01AG063969-03). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-22 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10137866. Licensed CC0.

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