Research Training for Equity in Alzheimer's Disease and Brain Health in Colombia

PROJECT SUMMARY This D43 grant application aims to sustainably strengthen the research capacity of the Universidad Javeriana in Bogotá, Colombia with an emphasis on training in-country experts to develop and conduct research focused on Alzheimer’s disease and related dementias (ADRD). Our application is in response to NOT-AG-21-027 from the National Institute of Aging (NIA) aimed at encouraging the development of training and research programs related to ADRD in low- and middle- income countries (LMICs). We build on existing research collaborations, funded by the National Institute of Aging, in the Multi-Partner Consortium to Expand Dementia Research in Latin America (ReDLat, R01-AG-057234) between UCSF and Universidad Javeriana. We also expand UCSF’s Global Brain Health Institute’s (GBHI) eight-year engagement in Colombia by training five Atlantic Fellows for Equity in Brain Health in a non-residential fashion to advance ADRD research, education, and care. Three pillars of activities described in this application will be used to increase ADRD research capacity for the university framed around a new Doctorate of Neurosciences program led by MPI, Santamaría-García. First, we will augment programing for a new Doctorate of Neuroscience degree with further coursework in statistics and grant writing. A full-time statistician at Universidad Javeriana will amplify the success of this program. We will support the most promising doctorate students with stipends and seed grants to free up time needed to advance their research. Second, we will increase capacity of the early-career mentoring pool through a non-residential experience provided by GBHI and will provide access to seed grant funding for early-career, patient-oriented faculty at Universidad Javeriana. Most seed grants to faculty will be offered in year 1 to create a platform for research projects that postdoctorate students can join and to provide preliminary data for NIH applications, a core metric of success. The non-residential experience at GBHI will be 12 months in duration and will include coursework around ADRD, leadership, mentoring, and skills such as grant writing. Resources for these alumni include access to USD 25,000 pilot grants program. Finally, we will increase in-country networking and research exchange opportunities, in collaboration with the Universidad de Antioquia which has a robust NIH-supported research program around early-onset, dominant-inherited AD. An in-country annual scientific exchange and workshop will fortify these collaborations. In all, the proposed work aims to substantially fortify Universidad Javeriana’s research capacity for ADRD research in a manner that strengthens the renewal of this grant in five years led by MPIs in Colombia.