# Cognitive and Neural Moderators of Longitudinal Decline in Frontotemporal Degeneration

> **NIH NIH R00** · UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA · 2020 · $249,000

## Abstract

Project Summary
This K99/R00 award will support my development as an independent investigator with a research
program designing individualized interventions to slow cognitive decline in persons with
neurodegenerative disease that are based on underlying neurobiological mechanisms.
Candidate: My clinical experience as a nurse practitioner and research experience in cognitive neuroscience
ideally position me to achieve my career goal of becoming an independent investigator with expertise in the
cognitive and biologic basis of neurodegenerative conditions such as Frontotemporal Degeneration (FTD). I
had strong neuroscience training at the University of Pennsylvania, where I was supported by an NRSA
Predoctoral Award to investigate the neural basis of apathy in behavioral variant Frontotemporal Degeneration
(bvFTD). I was subsequently awarded an Individual NRSA Postdoctoral Fellowship to investigate how lifestyle
factors contribute to longitudinal worsening in apathy. In this research, I have gained experience with
longitudinal design and learned about additional MRI measures such as diffusion tensor imaging of white
matter tracts. I have become increasingly interested in longitudinal cognitive decline and how lifestyle and
biologic factors contribute to the variable rate of decline in bvFTD. In this proposal, I plan to gain the necessary
expertise in the biological basis for symptom progression in neurodegenerative disease in order to design
interventions for bvFTD. I will pursue training in intervention design and methods to prepare for a subsequent
R01 where I will use the knowledge gained from this K99/R00 to design and test cognitive interventions that
boost neural compensation to slow decline in bvFTD.
Environment: This award will be conducted at The Pennsylvania State University (PSU), College of Nursing
and the University of Pennsylvania, Frontotemporal Degeneration Center (UPenn FTDC). PSU and UPenn are
leading centers for the study of neurodegenerative disease and I have strong institutional support from both
universities. PSU is an exceptional environment that has expert centers for aging research and methodology
including, non-pharmacological intervention research for individuals with neurodegenerative disease. My
mentor, Dr. Donna Fick, is a nurse researcher with expertise in cognitive decline and she has a productive
research program developing tailored interventions for persons with delirium and dementia based on cognitive
reserve theory. Given my future goal of developing cognitive interventions, PSU is the ideal environment to
pursue training in intervention methods. The UPenn FTDC is a leading center for biologic research in
neurodegenerative disease including expert centers for genetic and neuroimaging research and relevant
clinical research laboratories. The UPenn FTDC maintains one of the largest neurodegenerative disease
datasets that includes a diverse range of modalities such as MRI, diffusion tensor imaging, arterial spin
lab...

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 9939365
- **Project number:** 5R00AG056054-05
- **Recipient organization:** UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA
- **Principal Investigator:** Lauren M Massimo
- **Activity code:** R00 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2020
- **Award amount:** $249,000
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 2016-09-30 → 2022-05-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/9939365

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 9939365, Cognitive and Neural Moderators of Longitudinal Decline in Frontotemporal Degeneration (5R00AG056054-05). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-23 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/9939365. Licensed CC0.

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