# Heterogeneous Effects of Education on Alzheimers Disease and Related Dementia among Demographic Groups: A Multigenerational and Multilevel Study

> **NIH NIH R01** · PENNSYLVANIA STATE UNIVERSITY, THE · 2024 · $362,250

## Abstract

PROJECT SUMMARY
The protective effect of education against Alzheimer’s disease and related dementias (ADRD) is found to be
smaller for racial/ethnic minority individuals than for non-Hispanic White individuals. Identifying factors that
modify or mediate the education-ADRD relationship presents a unique opportunity to address the racial/ethnic
disparities in ADRD and ultimately improve population health. However, most research relies on respondents’
education to assess the education-ADRD relationship, failing to consider the roles of other family member’s
education or the social context and environment in which education occurs and affects ADRD. The major goal
of the proposed research is to develop a novel framework that incorporates multigenerational education and
multidomain contextual measures and use it to clarify the heterogeneous effects of education on ADRD risk
among racial/ethnic groups by analyzing nationally representative longitudinal data. We propose to achieve this
goal through three specific aims. In Aim 1, we will develop a multigenerational framework and use it to estimate
the effect of multigenerational education on the respondent’s ADRD risk and the racial/ethnic disparities. Aim 2
is to construct multidomain contextual measures of structural inequality and racism and estimate their effects on
individual’s ADRD risk and the racial/ethnic disparities. To provide historical and population contexts for
understanding results from Aims 1 and 2, in Aim 3 we will estimate how education effects on ADRD risk may
differ across four birth cohorts.
The proposed research is significant because it will help reduce racial/ethnic disparities in cognitive impairment
and ADRD risk by clarifying multigenerational pathways and identifying mediators and modifiers of the
heterogeneous education-ADRD relationships among demographic groups. The proposed research is
innovative because it will develop a new multigenerational and multilevel mediation approach to understanding
why the education-ADRD risk relationship differs among racial/ethnic groups. It will also contribute new
contextual data to a nationally representative data set.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10874646
- **Project number:** 5R01AG078518-03
- **Recipient organization:** PENNSYLVANIA STATE UNIVERSITY, THE
- **Principal Investigator:** Liying Luo
- **Activity code:** R01 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2024
- **Award amount:** $362,250
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 2022-09-01 → 2028-06-30

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10874646

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10874646, Heterogeneous Effects of Education on Alzheimers Disease and Related Dementia among Demographic Groups: A Multigenerational and Multilevel Study (5R01AG078518-03). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-24 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10874646. Licensed CC0.

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