Mentoring Investigators in Dementia Research by Engaging with Persons with Alzheimer's Disease and Care Partners

ABSTRACT This submission by Hillary Lum, MD, PhD for the NIH Midcareer Investigator Award in Patient-Oriented Research (K24) enables Dr. Lum to: 1) mentor junior clinical investigators in dementia care research, and 2) enhance the science of community-engaged research and co-design methods involving persons affected by Alzheimer's Disease and Related Dementias (ADRD). Dr. Lum is a geriatrician, palliative medicine physician, and prior Beeson Scholar with an independent ADRD research program, ADRD team-science collaborations, a national reputation in ADRD palliative care research, and a strong record of grants and publications. Mentorship: Over the last decade, Dr. Lum has mentored more than 30 residents, fellows, and junior clinical investigators in geriatrics, palliative care, neurology, and other patient-oriented aging disciplines. She has research mentorship leadership roles including serving as Co-Director of the NIA T32 Multidisciplinary Palliative Care in Aging Post-Doctoral Fellowship Program and Associate Director of the NCATS Clinical Faculty Scholars Program at the University of Colorado. Her mentoring objectives are to increase the pipeline of ADRD and geriatric investigators who progress to independence, and to lead institutional and national ADRD and geriatric patient-oriented research mentorship programs. Research theme: Dr. Lum's research integrates community-engaged research and co-design methods into real-world intervention design, testing, and implementation to improve care for persons living with dementia and family care partners. Community-engaged research is the process of working collaboratively with patients and others during conceptualization, conduct, and dissemination of research. Co-design methods, focusing on developing interventions, are part of community engaged research. As an example of community-engaged research in ADRD, Dr. Lum convened a “Memory Tech Council” of patients, care partners, and community members to identify priorities for use of consumer health information technology embedded in the health system to improve dementia care. This K24 proposal will provide Dr. Lum with protected time to advance the science of engagement in ADRD by focusing on: 1) expanding capacity for junior investigators to integrate engagement methods into their ADRD research; 2) identifying community-engaged research methods for partnering with persons living with dementia and care partners; and 3) organizing co-design tools for dementia care interventions into a new online resource for dementia care researchers. Impact: Through this K24 award, Dr. Lum will enhance the science of engagement in ADRD, enhance her mentorship through current and new research mentorship roles at University of Colorado and nationally, and enhance the field through a pipeline of clinical investigators in ADRD and patient-oriented aging research.