The mediating role of Slow Wave Sleep and Vascular Risk Factors on Alzheimer Disease related disparity between African-Americans and non-Hispanic Whites

PROJECT SUMMARY/ABSTRACT: This K23 resubmission is for Dr. Bubu, an Assistant Professor at NYU School of Medicine (NYUSoM), in the

Departments of Psychiatry and Population Health, who is fully committed to becoming an independently funded investigator studying how age-related and age-dependent sleep changes, and vascular risk, impact cognitive decline and Alzheimer’s disease (AD) risk, and how they drive AD related disparities. His unique background makes him an ideal candidate for this field of research.

Dr. Bubu has graduate, internship, and fellowship-level clinical and research training in neurology, neuro-epidemiology and public health. He is a graduate of the NYU’s NIH-funded Program to provide Congruent Mentorship to Reach Academic Diversity in Neuroscience Research (1R25NS094093-01), and was recently supported as a postdoctoral fellow at NYUSoM Department of Population Health under a T32 funding mechanism (T32HL129953).

He was recently awarded the NIA funded Columbia Center for Interdisciplinary Research on Alzheimer’s disease Disparities Pilot (CIRAD; P30 AG059303) grant to conduct original research on the interaction of obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) and race on plasma tau, and neurofilament light protein.

Career development and training plan: Dr. Bubu’s training plan in health disparities research and MRI/PET data analysis

couples an outstanding research and education environment at NYUSoM and nearby world-renowned medical centers in the New York Manhattan area with nationally renowned expert mentors. His advisory committee is comprised of Drs. Jean-Louis (primary mentor and expert in health disparity research at NYU), Osorio (co-primary mentor and expert in healthy brain aging and neurodegeneration, at NYU), Ayappa (co-mentor and expert in sleep/OSA physiology, at Mount Sinai), Ogedegbe (adviser and expert in CVD disparity research at NYU), de Leon (adviser and expert in AD neuroimaging and biomarkers at Weill Cornell), and Manly (consultant and expert in neuropsychological methods in underserved populations at Columbia). His training plan features carefully designed coursework and hands-on training experiences.

Research plan: Slow wave sleep (SWS) and vascular risk are associated with AD risk. Black/African-American older

adults are disproportionately affected by Alzheimer’s disease, have significantly less SWS duration and higher prevalence of vascular risk factors (VRFs) for Alzheimer’s disease, compared to whites. In addition, sleep problems and VRFs often co-occur. More importantly, identifying asymptomatic blacks at higher risk of cognitive decline from Alzheimer’s disease is crucial to preventing its onset among blacks.

Dr. Bubu’s research proposal focuses on both cross-sectional and longitudinal relationships (Aims 1 -3) of the mediating role of SWS and VRFs on AD related disparity between blacks and on-Hispanic whites. This proposal represents new, original, and hypothesis-driven work with a strong theoretical foundation.

It is expected that each Aim will result in published manuscripts and data, which will directly inform and shape future R01-applications. This training and research plan will enable Dr. Bubu to become an independent researcher and leader in the impact of health behaviors, specifically sleep and VRFs on late-life cognitive functioning in blacks.