# Study to Uncover Pathways to Exceptional Cognitive Resilience in Aging (SUPERAging)

> **NIH NIH U19** · NORTHWESTERN UNIVERSITY · 2021 · $4,130,041

## Abstract

PROJECT SUMMARY (Overall):
The primary goal is to establish a multicenter SuperAging Consortium to identify behavioral, health, biologic,
genetic, environmental, socioeconomic, psychosocial, anatomic and neuropathologic factors associated with
SuperAging. These goals will be achieved through an organizational structure with 3 Cores
(Administrative/Biostatistics, Clinical/Imaging, and Biospecimen/Neuropathology) and 2 Research Projects. The
Consortium will enroll 500 participants across 4 US Sites located in Illinois, Wisconsin, Michigan and Georgia,
and the Canadian Site in Southwest, Ontario, with a focus on the enrollment of Black SuperAgers and Cognitively
Average Elderly Controls with similar demographics (Controls). The Administrative/Biostatistics Core will
provide governance and fiscal oversight, maintain scientific integrity, and create a centralized biostatistics and
database infrastructure to harmonize the goals and activities of the Cores, Sites, and Projects, with each other,
with the NIA and with extramural collaborators. The Clinical/Imaging Core will standardize criteria for the
uniform cross-site and multidisciplinary characterization of SuperAgers, streamline recruitment including that of
Black participants, enter relevant information in the comprehensive database, support co-enrollment into Project
1, and encourage collaborative ventures aiming to understand the factors that promote SuperAging. The
Biospecimen/Neuropathology Core will collect and bank brain tissue and blood products from SuperAging
and Control cases, according to optimized procedures. It will render pathological diagnoses, quantitate selected
markers of neurodegeneration and neuronal structure, coordinate the analyses of plasma biomarkers for
Alzheimer's disease, and make specimens available for collaborative investigations. Project 1 will use state-of-
the-art wearable technology to obtain real-time measurements in the course of everyday life to characterize
quantitative parameters related to sleep, physical activity, autonomic responsivity, and social engagement to
determine whether SuperAgers have relatively preserved and quantitatively determined physiologic and
behavioral `complexity' compared to Controls. Project 2 will use transcriptomic, genetic, and protein profiling
approaches to test the hypothesis that SuperAgers will demonstrate significant molecular differences in their
central and peripheral immune and inflammatory system parameters compared to matched Control and
Alzheimer's disease participants. By identifying neurobiologic features that contribute to superior memory
performance in old age, outcomes from this Consortium will help isolate factors that promote successful cognitive
aging and perhaps also prevent age-related brain diseases such as Alzheimer's disease.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10276525
- **Project number:** 1U19AG073153-01
- **Recipient organization:** NORTHWESTERN UNIVERSITY
- **Principal Investigator:** CHANGIZ GEULA
- **Activity code:** U19 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2021
- **Award amount:** $4,130,041
- **Award type:** 1
- **Project period:** 2021-09-30 → 2026-05-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10276525

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10276525, Study to Uncover Pathways to Exceptional Cognitive Resilience in Aging (SUPERAging) (1U19AG073153-01). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-24 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10276525. Licensed CC0.

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