Professor Dr. Fengyan Tang (PI), along with collaborators from the University of Pittsburgh (Beth Snitz, Andrea Rosso) and Rutgers (XinQi Dong), has received a new grant award from the National Institute on Aging for $2,223,556 titled: "Preventing Cognitive Decline and Dementia Among Older Chinese Immigrants: The Role of Activity, Engagement, Immigration Experience, and Neighborhood Environments".
This project will focus on the preventive effect of activity engagement profiles (AEP) on cognitive decline and examine whether AEP mitigate immigration-related and neighborhood-related risks for dementia among community-dwelling US Chinese immigrants. With a fast growth rate, the US Chinese population increased from 2.9 to 4.9 million between 2000 and 2015, with 14% of them aged 65+ years. The lifetime risk of developing Alzheimer and related dementias (ADRD) in this population is comparable to that of non-Hispanic Whites. The study will inform how active engagement with life and maintenance of cognitive function are interrelated to define and shape the aging process, which is especially important to older Chinese immigrants facing linguistic and social isolation.
This sizable R01 award signifies Dr. Tang's international recognition as a leader in gerontological research and is a major accomplishment.