Since 2012, our HSC Institute for Translational Research team has been leading Alzheimer’s research in the DFW community, focusing on aging and Alzheimer’s disease in non-Hispanic whites and Hispanics/Latinos. With funding from the National Institute on Aging, we expanded our study with brain scans in 2016 and again in 2020. In 2022, we received nearly $150 million to conduct the first large-scale Alzheimer’s research on the biology of the disease across the three largest U.S. racial and ethnic groups, emphasizing health disparities.
Over 6.9 million Americans are living with Alzheimer's disease (AD). This number is expected to grow to 18 million by 2050. Both African Americans and Hispanics have higher rates of AD as compared to non-Hispanic whites. Additionally, the anticipated growth in AD cases is expected to be higher among Hispanics and African Americans than non-Hispanic whites.
The Health & Aging Brain Study – Health Disparities (HABS-HD) is a groundbreaking Alzheimer’s research initiative, focusing on brain aging and Alzheimer’s disease across diverse communities. It is the most comprehensive study of its kind, aiming to understand how health disparities impact brain health among different racial and ethnic groups.
Our team is enrolling 1,500 Hispanics, 1,500 non-Hispanic whites, and 1,500 African Americans aged 30 and older. All participants undergo an interview, memory testing, blood draw, functional exam, MRI of the brain, and PET scans for brain levels of amyloid (Alzheimer’s plaques) and tau (Alzheimer’s tangles).
The data from this study will be used to create a comprehensive picture of the biological, sociocultural, behavioral and environmental factors that impact the development, presence and progression of memory loss and AD across diverse communities.
Moreover, this is the first-ever large-scale study of Amyloid/Tau/Neurodegeneration pathological markers (and Framework) among a community-based, multi-ethnic cohort. This sets the stage for a precision medicine model that takes race and ethnicity into account when advancing novel diagnostics and therapeutics for treating and preventing Mild Cognitive Impairment (MCI) and Alzheimer’s Disease (AD) among diverse populations. To date, the HABS-HD study reflects the single largest collection of brain scans related to AD among diverse communities in history.
The Health & Aging Brain Study – Health Disparities (HABS-HD) is the most comprehensive study of brain aging and Alzheimer’s disease among diverse communities ever conducted.
Our team is enrolling 1,500 Hispanics, 1,500 non-Hispanic whites, and 1,500 African Americans aged 30 and older. All participants undergo an interview, memory testing, blood draw, functional exam, MRI of the brain, and PET scans for brain levels of amyloid (Alzheimer’s plaques) and tau (Alzheimer’s tangles).
The data from this study will be used to create a comprehensive picture of the biological, sociocultural, behavioral and environmental factors that impact the development, presence and progression of memory loss and AD across diverse communities.
Moreover, this is the first-ever large-scale study of Amyloid/Tau/Neurodegeneration pathological markers (and Framework) among a community-based, multi-ethnic cohort. This sets the stage for a precision medicine model that takes race and ethnicity into account when advancing novel diagnostics and therapeutics for treating and preventing Mild Cognitive Impairment (MCI) and Alzheimer’s Disease (AD) among diverse populations. To date, the HABS-HD study reflects the single largest collection of brain scans related to AD among diverse communities in history.
We are committed to advancing Alzheimer’s research by addressing health disparities among non-Hispanic whites, African Americans, and Hispanics. Our team explores the disease's biology within the context of social, environmental, and behavioral factors, as they significantly affect how we age. Our studies show that health, genetics, and environmental factors can impact brain health across a lifetime. The Dallas/Fort Worth area provides a unique setting to study Alzheimer’s and mild cognitive impairment (MCI) across diverse racial and ethnic groups.
855 Montgomery Street, 5th floor
Fort Worth, Texas 76107
+1 (817) 735-2963
@healthandagingbrainstudy
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Research is at the heart of all medical advances and it helps us understand new ways to treat, prevent and cure disease. Your participation contributes to a better understanding of healthy aging, Alzheimer's disease, and related conditions.
