# Project 3 -- MIDUS Biomarker Project

> **NIH NIH U19** · UNIVERSITY OF WISCONSIN-MADISON · 2022 · $2,606,494

## Abstract

ABSTRACT – BIOMARKER PROJECT
The Biomarker Project plays a central role in the MIDUS efforts to understand aging as an integrated
biopsychosocial process. Our prior biomarker data have received widespread engagement from the scientific
community: 403 publications have been generated, 162 of which appeared since 2019. The goal going forward
is to build on this momentum by collecting a 2nd wave of longitudinal data on the Refresher subsample (n=647),
and a 4th wave of longitudinal data on the Core subsamples (n=630), for a total projected N=1,277. We will
repeat our comprehensive battery of biomarkers (neuroendocrine, inflammatory, glucose metabolism,
cardiovascular, musculoskeletal) plus add new measures related to Alzheimer’s Disease and Related
Dementias (ADRD), including amyloid beta (Aβ40, Aβ42), neurofilament light (NFL), and P-tau, along with a
new measure of chronic inflammation (suPAR). We will also add the Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA)
and a hearing test. We will investigate hypotheses about the effects of socioeconomic and psychosocial
disadvantage on subsequent change in biology, predicting that those exposed to greater cumulative adversity
will show heightened biological risk over time and greater functional impairment. We will also investigate the
role of psychosocial resources in moderating (mitigating) against the adverse health consequences of
socioeconomic and racial disparities. We will exploit the MIDUS design involving two national samples (Core,
Refresher) unfolding in time to examine widening socioeconomic status differential in health outcomes in
same-aged groups across different historical periods. Included in these analyses will be stress exposures
related to the Great Recession (previously assessed) and newly assessed hardships of the COVID-19
pandemic. Viewed comparatively, three key features distinguish the MIDUS Biomarker Project from other U.S.
studies. First, it will provide 3 waves of biological data over 20 years in the Core national sample and 2 waves
of biological data over 10 years in the Refresher national sample, all obtained on mid-life adults at baseline.
Second, the biomarkers collected in MIDUS are far richer than any other U.S. population-based sample. Third,
the extensive survey data of MIDUS – encompassing decades of prospective information on socioeconomic,
psychosocial, and behavioral aspects of participants’ lives -- provide unique opportunities for testing how these
factors combine to account for who has maintained healthy biological regulation and functional health across
time, while others have shifted toward clinically significant biological risk, or moved from pre-disease to disease
states. The MIDUS biomarker measures are also prominently featured in other projects (Survey, Daily,
Genomics) of this U19 application as well as the components (Cognitive, Affective Neuroscience, ADRD
Neuroscience) of the Ancillary U01 application.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10559178
- **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:** $2,606,494
- **Award type:** 2
- **Project period:** 2016-07-25 → 2028-08-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10559178

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10559178, Project 3 -- MIDUS Biomarker Project (2U19AG051426-06A1). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-23 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10559178. Licensed CC0.

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