# Integrative Pathways to Health and Illness

> **NIH NIH U19** · UNIVERSITY OF WISCONSIN-MADISON · 2022 · $7,184,584

## Abstract

ABSTRACT – MIDUS OVERALL PLAN
The Midlife in the U.S. (MIDUS) national longitudinal study has been ongoing since 1995. MIDUS is the only
national study focused on midlife with a wide age expanse at baseline. MIDUS also has unusual depth in its
psychosocial, biomarker, genomic, and neuroscience assessments, thus permitting a focus on neurobiological
mechanisms and pathways through which sociodemographic and psychosocial factors influence morbidity and
mortality. This application aims to conduct a 2nd wave of data collection on the MIDUS Refresher sample
(MR2) as well as a 4th wave of data collection on the Core sample (M4), including all projects in both. Four
projects (Survey, Daily Diary, Biomarkers, Genomics) are part of this U19 competing continuation application,
which is linked with an Ancillary U01 application on Alzheimer’s Disease (AD) and Related Dementias (ADRD)
that will examine midlife precursurs to cognitive decline, emotion regulation, brain aging, and their interplay.
Much of that prior work is also longitudinal, although it now includes new ADRD neuroscience and biomarkers.
Overall, the proposed activities involve over 5,200 U.S. adults that will be supported by an Administrative Core
responsible for orchestrating cross-project data collection and delivering high-quality, well-documented data; a
BioCore that ensures quality control in biomarker data collection and offers guidance on use of biomarkers;
and a Statistics Core that provides workshops on multiple topics (modeling longitudinal change, using genomic
data, linking MIDUS to other datasets). Recurring scientific themes in the proposed science are health
inequalities and racial disparities examined with the rich biopsychosocial data available in MIDUS, including
wide-ranging assessments of stress exposures across multiple waves, thereby providing indicators of
cumulative adversity. MIDUS is also known for its comprehensive assessments of psychosocial and
behavioral protective factors, thereby advancing research on resilience in the face of challenge. Aging on a
changing historical stage is another key theme in MIDUS exemplified by a past focus on hardships of the
Great Recession, and going forward, a new parallel focus on hardships of the COVID-19 pandemic. In terms
of scientific engagement, MIDUS is the most frequently downloaded study at the National Archive of
Computerized Data on Aging (NACDA). Widespread usage from the scientific community (26,000+ public
users) has culminated in 1,617 publications covering 38 substantive domains. Underscoring the momentum
behind MIDUS, more than half of these products are journal articles published during the current funding cycle
(2016-present).

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10559172
- **Project number:** 2U19AG051426-06A1
- **Recipient organization:** UNIVERSITY OF WISCONSIN-MADISON
- **Principal Investigator:** CAROL D. RYFF
- **Activity code:** U19 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2022
- **Award amount:** $7,184,584
- **Award type:** 2
- **Project period:** 2016-07-25 → 2028-08-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10559172

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10559172, Integrative Pathways to Health and Illness (2U19AG051426-06A1). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-25 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10559172. Licensed CC0.

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