# Health and Aging in Africa: Longitudinal Studies of an INDEPTH Community

> **NIH NIH P01** · HARVARD UNIVERSITY D/B/A HARVARD SCHOOL OF PUBLIC HEALTH · 2020 · $1,593,852

## Abstract

In this renewal application, we will build on the successes of the past project period to further examine the
biological, social, and economic conditions that shape health in the aging population of South Africa. Our
program, Health and Aging in Africa: Longitudinal Studies of an INDEPTH Community (HAALSI)
completed its initial 3-year grant period with the establishment of a community-based cohort with baseline data
for 5,059 men and women ≥40 years of age in the International Network for the Demographic Evaluation of
Populations and Their Health in Developing Countries (INDEPTH) community of Agincourt, South Africa. The
response rate to the baseline survey was 86%. We use the infrastructure and tools already in place for follow-
up surveillance of the HAALSI cohort, and we anticipate very minimal loss to follow-up for data collection
moving forward. We propose to conduct two waves of follow-up data collection at three-year intervals, allowing
the longitudinal analysis of three waves of data collection and six years of follow-up for morbidity, mortality,
biological, behavioral, and environmental risk factors, and physical and cognitive function. The proposed
HAALSI Program includes five projects: Project 1: Alzheimer’s Disease and Related Dementias and Cognitive
Impairment; Project 2: Cardiometabolic Disease in an Aging South African Cohort; Project 3: HIV and HIV
Interventions to Promote Healthy Aging; Project 4: Public Policies to Improve Healthy Aging; and Project 5:
Multimorbidity. The projects will be supported by four cores: Leadership and Administration (Core A), Field
(Core B), Data Management and Analysis (Core C), Biomarkers and Biobanking (Core D). Each of these
projects and cores will be led by investigators from both the U.S. and South Africa. All projects will share a
common household and participant survey and assessment and have aims that are tightly integrated across
projects to create a synergistic and dynamic program. The study design used by the HAALSI Program is finely
tuned to capture characteristics specific to South Africa as well as harmonize with other HRS sister studies in
India, China, Brazil, the UK, Europe, and the U.S., providing a unique opportunity to conduct cross-country
comparisons of the biological, social, and economic determinants of chronic diseases and their effects on
functional and health outcomes in aging populations. Such cross-country harmonized comparisons will enable
scientists to identify new risk factors and understand the impact of known risk factors on a global scale. Our
study will inform the current debate about whether “standard” risk factors in highly industrialized Western
countries have the same effects on health outcomes in non-Western, low income countries. Our study sets out
to identify and examine the distribution of both novel and established risk factors for chronic health conditions
and conduct a follow-up study to discover the predictive value of the identified biological, social, ...

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 9950943
- **Project number:** 5P01AG041710-07
- **Recipient organization:** HARVARD UNIVERSITY D/B/A HARVARD SCHOOL OF PUBLIC HEALTH
- **Principal Investigator:** LISA F BERKMAN
- **Activity code:** P01 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2020
- **Award amount:** $1,593,852
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 2013-09-15 → 2022-05-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/9950943

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 9950943, Health and Aging in Africa: Longitudinal Studies of an INDEPTH Community (5P01AG041710-07). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-23 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/9950943. Licensed CC0.

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