# Early-Life and Life Course Environmental Factors that Modify Genetic Risk of Alzheimer's Disease

> **NIH NIH K01** · STANFORD UNIVERSITY · 2020 · $126,252

## Abstract

PROJECT ABSTRACT
 This proposal seeks to understand the impact of interactions between genetic risk and social
environments at various stages in the life course on genitive decline and Alzheimer’s disease and related
dementias (ADRD). Under the guidance of primary mentors Drs. Victor Henderson and Maria Glymour, the
training and research plan will build upon Dr. Harrati’s expertise in biodemography and sociogenomics to
prepare her for an independent career that integrates social science, genetics, and lifecourse epidemiology
into the study of ADRD risk. Dr. Harrati will pursue a program of training at Stanford University, in conjunction
with the University of California, San Francisco, that will advance her knowledge and skills in (1) enhanced
knowledge of the genetic architecture of Alzheimer’s disease and advances in the analysis of molecular
genetic data, (2) methods of longitudinal analysis and analysis of cumulative exposures, (3) clinical
assessments of Alzheimer’s disease and (4) use of administrative data linkages for the study of ADRD.
 The proposed research plan will capitalize on a 60 year-long longitudinal social and health survey
spanning birth through age 72 (n=~9,000). The Wisconsin Longitudinal Study (WLS) has a number of unique
and important advantages for this proposal: a family design that allow for better controls of unobserved family
environments; detailed measures of adolescent cognition; school data from administrative school district
records; linkage to individual 1940 Census records (the year of birth for cohort members); longitudinal job
histories, rich, longitudinal, neurocognitive assessments; linkage to respondents’ Medicare data; and genotype
data for cohort members and their siblings, allowing for more power to detect genetic associations. WLS was
recently awarded an NIA R01 award to study dementia onset, which Dr. Harrati will use as the starting point for
her eventual R01 application.
 The proposal will explore the role of three important social exposures: early-life family environments,
school quality in high school, and job demand at mid-life and how they each moderate genetic risk of ADRD.
This proposal seeks to address some of the methodological challenges inherent in studies of cognitive aging—
that of recall bias—by using the WLS survey data that were collected contemporaneously from 1957 on and
linkages to administrative data. Results from this research program may shed light on the social resources
and risk factors that moderate biological risk of ADRD. This evidence can help identify strategies most likely to
reduce the population burden of ADRD, as well as the disparities therein.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 9951950
- **Project number:** 1K01AG066848-01
- **Recipient organization:** STANFORD UNIVERSITY
- **Principal Investigator:** Amal Harrati
- **Activity code:** K01 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2020
- **Award amount:** $126,252
- **Award type:** 1
- **Project period:** 2020-06-15 → 2020-07-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/9951950

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 9951950, Early-Life and Life Course Environmental Factors that Modify Genetic Risk of Alzheimer's Disease (1K01AG066848-01). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-22 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/9951950. Licensed CC0.

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