Global Engagement to Investigate the New Global Issue of Cognitive Decline

Rapidly-spreading Alzheimer’s Disease and Related Dementias (ADRD) are major public health concerns. But there is little information/analysis about ADRD outside of North America and Europe. This project will lay foundations for investigation of ADRD in a distinctive context, Chile, with its relatively high proportion of aging persons, particular policy concern about ADRD, and unusually rich longitudinal data over approximately 15 years so far and committed for the future – which presents a rich and unique opportunity for extending the possible comparative harmonized analyses of the Health and Retirement Study (HRS) International Sister Studies. The project builds on long-term collaborations between the Population Aging Research Center and the Centro de Encuestas y Estudios Longitudinales de Universidad Catolica de Chile, and will be performed by a highly qualified team of researchers representing School of Arts and Sciences, Medicine and Nursing at Penn and interdisciplinary teams in Chile and Mexico/US. The project will also provide new training/research options for both undergraduate and graduate students.