# Predictors of Altered CNS Structure, Function, and Connectomics in the Elderly using a Health Disparities Framework

> **NIH NIH R01** · UNIVERSITY OF PITTSBURGH AT PITTSBURGH · 2022 · $2,416,844

## Abstract

Abstract
 The goal of this project is to leverage the diverse sample in our Human Connectome Project (HCP)
Study, Connectomics in Brain Aging (COBRA) , to investigate the role(s) of structural and social determinants
of health in the natural history of Alzheimer’s Disease (AD) utilizing a health equity framework. We propose
that racial inequities in the development of cognitive impairments in the context of AD are driven by pervasive
structural and institutionalized inequities that shape risk and disadvantage at multiple levels, including
biological, environmental, behavioral, sociocultural, as proposed in the NIA Health Disparities Research
Framework. Our organizing principle is that the expression of cognitive dysfunction in the elderly is the result of
two independent processes affecting the connectome — the first is the neuropathology associated with AD.
The second process historically has been referred to as “modifiable individual risk factors”, however, this fails
to recognize that individual risk is influenced by factors that are outside of an individual’s control, and which will
be measured using a health equity framework.
 We will augment our existing sample (50% Black, 65% Female) with an additional 150 participant (total
sample ~400 with up to four study visits). Each of the participants will contribute the HCP-specified
demographic, behavioral and laboratory data. All of the participants will undergo extensive brain imaging
biannually including MRI and PET (amyloid and tau tracers). All of the MRI data will be uploaded to the
Connectome Coordinating Facility, and the behavioral/cognitive, PET data will be uploaded to the NIMH Data
Archive. Locally, we will use these data to address specific questions related to structure, function, AD, aging
and vascular disease in multi-modality studies leveraging the differential advantages of MRI, fMRI, and in vivo
Aβ and tau imaging.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10377227
- **Project number:** 1R01AG072641-01A1
- **Recipient organization:** UNIVERSITY OF PITTSBURGH AT PITTSBURGH
- **Principal Investigator:** Ann D. Cohen
- **Activity code:** R01 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2022
- **Award amount:** $2,416,844
- **Award type:** 1
- **Project period:** 2022-02-15 → 2026-11-30

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10377227

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10377227, Predictors of Altered CNS Structure, Function, and Connectomics in the Elderly using a Health Disparities Framework (1R01AG072641-01A1). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-25 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10377227. Licensed CC0.

---

*[NIH grants dataset](/datasets/nih-grants) · CC0 1.0*