# Racial Disparities in Alzheimer's Disease and Related Dementias: The Role of School Segregation and Experiences of Discrimination

> **NIH NIH F31** · UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, SAN FRANCISCO · 2024 · $33,808

## Abstract

PROJECT SUMMARY
Alzheimer’s disease and related dementias (ADRDs) are a major public health burden and disproportionately
affect Black individuals. Although socioeconomic and cardiovascular risk factors partially account for this,
experiences of structural (e.g. school segregation) and interpersonal racism (e.g. discrimination) could be
important drivers of cognitive inequities. The racialized experience of school segregation can have pervasive
effects on sustained discriminatory events and poor health outcomes because of stress-response activation, in
addition to decreased socioeconomic opportunities, which may contribute to increased ADRDs risk. Limited
studies on the impact of school segregation on late-life cognitive outcomes have produced mixed findings and
did not consider incident dementia risk. Additionally, prior studies have not considered mid or late-life
mediators of the association between school segregation or quantified the timing of school segregation. Thus,
the rationale for the proposed research is to delineate the association of school segregation and resulting
experiences of interpersonal discrimination on ADRDs risk to explain why Black individuals have a higher
ADRDs burden than other racial and ethnic groups and to identify potential strategies to prevent ADRDs and
reduce ADRDs disparities (e.g. organization and occupational policies to reduce racism). The analysis will
leverage the Study of Healthy Aging in African Americans and Kaiser Healthy Aging and Diverse Life
Experiences, NIA-funded longitudinal cohorts of older adult populations in the United States. The overall
objective of this application is to examine the effect of school segregation on ADRDs inequities among older
Black and White adults (ages 50-89). This project will also address how experiences of discrimination across
the lifecourse impact cognitive trajectories and ADRDs risk. Specifically, this study will evaluate the association
between attendance at a racially segregated school on cognitive decline and ADRDs risk among Black
individuals (Aim 1) and evaluate the role of everyday and major life discrimination as mediators of this
association (Aim 2). Finally, the proposed study will estimate the extent to which racial differences in cognitive
decline and ADRDs risk are contributed by differential exposure to school segregation, everyday
discrimination, and major life discrimination among Black and White individuals (Aim 3). Examining the roles of
sociocontextual factors on ADRDs risk in a large, diverse cohort of Black and White individuals will provide
valuable insight into the sustained effects of structural and interpersonal racism on ADRDs risk and will inform
population interventions to reduce ADRDs inequities including the targeting of intermediate or proximal
mechanisms (e.g. improving neighborhood and educational quality, enhancing access to additional income and
employment opportunities). The proposed training, guided by an exemplary mentorship t...

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10823219
- **Project number:** 5F31AG081071-02
- **Recipient organization:** UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, SAN FRANCISCO
- **Principal Investigator:** Sirena Celeste Gutierrez
- **Activity code:** F31 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2024
- **Award amount:** $33,808
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 2023-02-01 → 2024-08-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10823219

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10823219, Racial Disparities in Alzheimer's Disease and Related Dementias: The Role of School Segregation and Experiences of Discrimination (5F31AG081071-02). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-22 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10823219. Licensed CC0.

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