Local researcher studying cognitive decline in hopes of discovering biomarker

Hugo J. Aparicio, MD, MPH, assistant professor of neurology at Boston University School of Medicine (BUSM) and a Framingham Heart Study (FHS) investigator, recently received a grant from the National Institute on Aging (NIA)/National Institutes of Health (NIH) to study the vascular risk factors, brain imaging, biomarkers and genetics associated with aging and cognitive decline among participants of the FHS.

The $340,171 two-year Research Supplements to Promote Diversity in Health-Related Research Program award will allow Aparicio, a 2017 Spivack Emerging Leader, to use data from the community-based FHS to investigate the associations between novel vascular biomarkers and both cognitive dysfunction and evidence of brain aging or injury on magnetic resonance imaging.

Aparicio's research interests include the identification of circulating and neuroimaging biomarkers associated with cerebrovascular disease. He is particularly interested in the contributions of vascular risk factors in Alzheimer's and non-Alzheimer's related dementia.

The NIA, one of the 27 Institutes and Centers of NIH, leads a broad scientific effort to understand the nature of aging and to extend the healthy, active years of life. NIA is the primary federal agency supporting and conducting Alzheimer's disease research.

Provided by Boston University School of Medicine