New Pilot Grant Supports Research on Social Adversity and Brain Aging

Assistant Professor Chelsea Liu, PhD, in the Department of Epidemiology and Center for Health Equity (CHE) faculty member, has been awarded a $20,000 pilot grant from the UTHealth Houston Institute on Aging for her project, "Heterogeneous Impact of Social Adversity on Pathological Brain Aging in Long-Term Caregivers”.  

The project aims to better understand the relationship between social adversity and pathological brain aging in caregivers; then identify potential markers of resilience such as social support that can protect against the health impact of social adversity. 

Prior research shows that chronic stress can lead to pathological brain aging. This is especially true in communities that experience social adversity such as socioeconomic disadvantages, lack of perceived neighborhood safety, and adverse life events. Social adversity has been linked to higher risk of developing type 2 diabetes, metabolic syndrome, and cardiovascular disease, which are all major risk factors for Alzheimer’s disease and related dementias (ADRD) (1-2).  

The team will focus on Cameron County in South Texas, where residents experience a substantially higher burden of traditional risk factors for ADRD (3). They will recruit informal caregivers who often experience chronic stress from sustained emotional, physical, and financial demands of caring for senior adults (4).  

This pilot will inform the development of early ADRD identification efforts in South Texas, with the goal of delaying or preventing onset. If the team observes a high prevalence of brain pathology in informal caregivers, they will expand on this study to enroll more caregivers and compare their results to non-caregivers.  

When asked about the potential impact, Liu states, “Our goal is to inform ADRD prevention efforts in Cameron County with a focus on long-term caregivers of older adults, some of whom may be especially vulnerable to chronic health concerns.  We hope to use what we learn from this study to inform intervention development and to support caregiver well-being in this community”. 

This project will be carried out with the support of other key collaborators with expertise in brain imaging, cognitive assessment and community-engaged research in Cameron County: Fadi Musfee, MD, assistant professor of Epidemiology; Belinda Reininger, DrPH, regional dean; and Sean Savitz, MD, professor of Neurology at McGovern Medical School. 

1. Black PH. The inflammatory consequences of psychologic stress: relationship to insulin resistance, obesity, atherosclerosis and diabetes mellitus, type II. Med Hypotheses. 2006;67(4):87 

1. Cukierman T, Gerstein HC, Williamson JD. Cognitive decline and dementia in diabetes--systematic overview of prospective observational studies. Diabetologia. 2005;48(12):2460-9.  

1. Fisher-Hoch SP, Vatcheva KP, Laing ST, Hossain MM, Rahbar MH, Hanis CL, et al. Missed opportunities for diagnosis and treatment of diabetes, hypertension, and hypercholesterolemia in a Mexican American population, Cameron County Hispanic Cohort, 2003-2008. Prev Chronic Dis. 2012; 9:110298.  

1. Schulz R, Sherwood PR. Physical and mental health effects of family caregiving. Am J Nurs. 2008;108(9 Suppl):23-27; quiz 7.