# Mayo Advancing Research Equity in ADRD Study in Jacksonville(MAREAS-Jax)

> **NIH NIH UH2** · MAYO CLINIC  JACKSONVILLE · 2023 · $547,750

## Abstract

PROJECT SUMMARY/ABSTRACT
Hispanics/Latinos (HL) and African Americans (AA) represent a rapidly growing proportion of the United States
population (18.7% HL, 12.4% AA - US 2020 Census) who remain critically underrepresented in research of
Alzheimer disease (AD) and AD-related dementia (ADRD), despite a 1.5-2-fold higher prevalence of dementia
(vs non-Hispanic-white Americans). Underrepresentation in AD/ADRD research exacerbates health disparities
and challenges the development and implementation of efficacious and safe risk-reduction strategies for
AD/ADRD in HL/AA. Genetics do not fully explain disparate AD/ADRD risk, highlighting a fundamental
knowledge gap concerning how genomic factors interact with comorbidities and lifespan exposures to
Structural/Social Determinants of Health (SDoH; the “exposome”) to inform AD/ADRD risk. There is a critical
need to identify clinical, SDoH, and biological factors that contribute to disparate risk in HL/AA; establish the
relationship between exposures underlying AD/ADRD outcomes; use this information to mitigate disparities in
AD/ADRD burden through education and risk factor modification; and broadly disseminate this information to
inform the development of effective biomarkers and therapies. The Mayo Advancing Research Equity in ADRD
Study in Jacksonville (MAREAS-JAX; Spanish for tides) will address this need. Aim 1 will advance recruitment
of HL/AA cohorts (UH2) by developing/deploying outreach, recruitment, and engagement best practices for
HL/AA in Jacksonville, Florida, through a bilingual (English-Spanish) research team, supported by community
ambassador teams (CAT) and an external advisory committee (EAC) including experts in SDoH and AD/ADRD
research. Aim 2 will identify relevant measures of AD/ADRD burden (UH2►UH3). SDoH, cognitive, clinical, and
blood-based biomarker measures associated with cerebrovascular, amyloid, and tau burden, will be collected
through comprehensive/culturally appropriate annual assessments and integrated with multi-omics data,
structural (MR) and molecular (amyloid and tau) PET neuroimaging obtained at study entry, and every 2 years
thereafter to identify modifiable dementia risk factors, blood-based biomarkers, and molecular signatures of
AD/ADRD burden. Data collection will be standardized with input from EAC members to optimize scalability and
promote sample/data sharing. Aim 3 will provide meaningful individualized feedback (UH3) to participants
through a Brain Health Report detailing actionable risk factors and recommendations to mitigate intraindividual
AD/ADRD burden. Aim 4 will use multi-omics measures to identify molecular targets and signatures that interact
with the exposome and associate with AD/ADRD burden in HL/AA (UH3) using a systems biology approach with
validated analytic pipelines and prioritizing broad data sharing following NIH’s findability, accessibility,
interoperability, and reusability guidelines. In this way, MAREAS-Jax will chart the currents that...

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10729787
- **Project number:** 1UH2AG083186-01
- **Recipient organization:** MAYO CLINIC  JACKSONVILLE
- **Principal Investigator:** Minerva Maria Carrasquillo
- **Activity code:** UH2 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2023
- **Award amount:** $547,750
- **Award type:** 1
- **Project period:** 2023-09-15 → 2025-08-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10729787

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10729787, Mayo Advancing Research Equity in ADRD Study in Jacksonville(MAREAS-Jax) (1UH2AG083186-01). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-26 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10729787. Licensed CC0.

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