Alzheimer’s disease and related dementias (ADRD) among U.S. Latinos are projected to increase over nine-fold from 379,000 in 2012 to 3.5 million by 2060. Latinos represent 18% of the U.S. population and almost twice that number in California. Latinos lag behind Whites and African-Americans in education and healthcare insurance, and have cardiovascular, metabolic, and other disease burdens that exceed those of Whites; however, Latino life-expectancy at birth surpasses that of Whites by over 3-years giving them greater exposure to age-related risk of ADRD. Though they have greater life-time risk, Latinos are less likely to present for possible diagnosis and intervention because of cultural differences in reporting behavioral, cognitive, and functional deficits. Furthermore, they are less likely to be diagnosed accurately because methods used to diagnose AD were largely developed and validated in relatively homogeneous, well-educated, White, English- speaking populations, including state-of-the-art clinical, neuropsychological, and neurological procedures which may not work effectively with monolingual Spanish-speaking or Spanish-English bilingual older Latinos. Thus, there is a need for AD-related research in older Latinos to overcome barriers to effective screening, assessment, diagnosis and treatment of early and preclinical disease. There is also a need to better understand factors that impede or facilitate participation of older Latinos in AD-related research, including awareness of AD and its clinical features, level of concern about the consequences of AD and burden of care, and willingness to participate in research including procedures such as sampling of biomarkers, genetics, and autopsy. To address these needs, the overall aims of the Latino Core are to develop methods, tools and strategies to 1) improve clinic and community-based memory screening in support of better health care for Latinos with ADRD and their recruitment into the ADRC Clinical Core cohort and volunteer registry, 2) improve objective neuropsychological assessment for detecting and tracking preclinical AD, MCI and the transition to AD in older Latinos, and to develop new tests and refine existing tests for these purposes, and 3) improve acquisition and interpretation of self-reported cognitive decline, language proficiency, degree of bilingualism, and attitudes towards ADRD research participation. The Latino Core will ensure that the ADRC is well positioned to study ADRD in this significant yet underserved portion of the population, filling critical gaps in scientific knowledge essential for reducing the disparities related to ADRD diagnosis, treatment and care facing Latinos in our San Diego community and beyond. Systematic study of AD in this diverse group will lead to unique insights and improved understanding of the consequences of AD in general (in all populations).