# Elucidating the measurement of telomeres: Development of a transdisciplinary, high-impact Telomere Research Network

> **NIH NIH U24** · TULANE UNIVERSITY OF LOUISIANA · 2021 · $66,028

## Abstract

PROJECT SUMMARY
This diversity supplement will support the career development for Lauren W. Yowelunh
McLester-Davis, a member of the Oneida tribe and the only Native American graduate student
at Tulane University. Given the paucity of Native Americans receiving doctoral degrees and NIH
funding over the last decade, early targeted support, particularly for exceptionally qualified
female Native American researchers in STEMM fields, is critical. This supplement will support
one such candidate through a research program directly aligned with her own career goals and
key professional interest areas by the Alzheimer's Association International Society to Advance
Alzheimer's Research and Treatment – specifically the relation between disease detection,
biomarkers and diversity, and ethnoracial factors related to Alzheimer's disease and related
disorders (ADRD). The proposed supplement is aligned with the parent U24 (U24AG066528),
that established the Telomere Research Network (TRN) to determine best practices for
measurement of telomere length (TL) applicable to population-based studies and determine the
ability of TL to serve a sentinel of the environmental exposome, psychosocial stress, and
disease susceptibility across the life course. The proposed supplement will expand the aims of
the parent grant with the following supplemental AIMS: Aim 1: To determine the relationship
between TL and neuropsychological performance in African American and Native
American middle-aged and older adults. It is hypothesized that the Rey Auditory Verbal
Learning Test (RAVLT) and the Trail Making Test (TMT), which capture subtle cognitive
changes associated with ADRD, will be significantly associated with peripheral blood TL within
African and Native Americans. Aim 2a: To assess the correlation between TL in CSF and
peripheral blood. It is hypothesized that TL measured in peripheral blood with be significantly
correlated with TL measured from TL measured from white blood cells (WBCs) obtained from
cerebrospinal fluid (CSF). Aim 2b: To assess the correlation of TL with DNA methylation-
based age (DNAm age) from cells in CSF in middle-aged and older adults. It is
hypothesized that TL will be associated with DNAm age and that CSF TL will demonstrate a
stronger correlation with DNAm age in CSF WBCs than TL measured in peripheral WBC.
Together the achievement of these Aims is expected to contribute to an enhanced
understanding of relation between TL and with neuropsychological outcomes in minoritized
populations and specific biomarkers of ADRD.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10346650
- **Project number:** 3U24AG066528-03S1
- **Recipient organization:** TULANE UNIVERSITY OF LOUISIANA
- **Principal Investigator:** Stacy Schmidt Drury
- **Activity code:** U24 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2021
- **Award amount:** $66,028
- **Award type:** 3
- **Project period:** 2019-09-30 → 2024-05-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10346650

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10346650, Elucidating the measurement of telomeres: Development of a transdisciplinary, high-impact Telomere Research Network (3U24AG066528-03S1). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-27 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10346650. Licensed CC0.

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