# Sensory Aging, Late-Life Wellbeing, and ADRD Research Infrastructure to Catalyze Practice and Policy

> **NIH NIH R61** · JOHNS HOPKINS UNIVERSITY · 2024 · $831,571

## Abstract

ABSTRACT
The goal of this 5-year research infrastructure development grant (R61/R33) is to substantially strengthen a
small but successful collaborative, international network – the SENSE Network – to accelerate and translate
innovative research in sensory aging, Alzheimer’s Disease and Related Dementias (ADRD) and late-life
wellbeing. MPIs of this proposal [Deal, Ehrlich] launched the SENSE Network in September 2020. Despite the
Network’s successes, its growth and objectives have been limited by critical fiscal and organizational barriers.
This proposal aims to address these barriers by growing the Network and undertaking key activities needed to
develop and accelerate the pace of interdisciplinary sensory aging research, a field at the nexus of sensory
health and gerontology. Objectives of the Network include: i) strengthening and expanding the SENSE
Network’s coordination of resources, data, and expertise through an expanded Steering Committee and
creation of Cores (Data Collection, Harmonization, and Integration Core; Research Development and
Mentorship Core; and Dissemination and Translation Core); ii) creating novel integrated and harmonized data
resources that include measures of sensory health and ADRD; iii) generating actionable scientific knowledge
through pilot project awards; iv) supporting and guiding research of early-stage investigators (including with the
lived experience); and v) disseminating and translating new scientific knowledge to inform clinical care,
intervention design, and sensory health and ADRD-related policy. These objectives are directly aligned with
R61/R33 key areas of interest of the NIA Divisions of Behavioral and Social Research (BSR) and Geriatrics
and Clinical Gerontology (DGCG), including data infrastructure for longitudinal research; harmonization and
data linkages across multiple data sets; demographic, social, economic, institutional, and geographic factors at
the population level that influence health; and functional independence. The SENSE Network leadership team
is a diverse group of investigators with an extensive track record of collaboration and experience creating
research infrastructure, ensuring that the SENSE Network has the capacity to grow sensory aging research
beyond what can be accomplished by individual experts and research groups. By accelerating and potentiating
the impact of siloed researchers, data sets, and projects, the SENSE Network is poised to take a leading role
in the field of sensory aging and ADRD research, advancing the science through in-depth interdisciplinary
partnerships and collaborations to positively impact the health of older adults in the U.S. and globally.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10977926
- **Project number:** 1R61AG089063-01
- **Recipient organization:** JOHNS HOPKINS UNIVERSITY
- **Principal Investigator:** Jennifer Anne Deal
- **Activity code:** R61 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2024
- **Award amount:** $831,571
- **Award type:** 1
- **Project period:** 2024-08-15 → 2026-07-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10977926

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10977926, Sensory Aging, Late-Life Wellbeing, and ADRD Research Infrastructure to Catalyze Practice and Policy (1R61AG089063-01). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-06-12 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10977926. Licensed CC0.

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