Risk and Resilience to Alzheimer’s Disease in African Americans

Although African Americans have double the prevalence of Alzheimer’s disease as compared to white Americans, we do not sufficiently understand the causes of this health disparity, nor how to best focus future interventional efforts to remediate this health crisis. This conference will present the latest data on biological, behavioral, social, and environmental influences on individual differences in aging, brain health, and Alzheimer’s disease in older African Americans – bridging correlational, longitudinal, and interventional methodologies. We seek to promote cross-disciplinary collaboration and communication among researchers, support trainees and early career investigators, and establish wider scientific, clinical, and public awareness of the need to reduce the risk of Alzheimer´s desease in African Americans.

Location: Paul Robeson Center on Martin Luther King Drive at Rutgers University-Newark, in Newark, NJ.

History: This is the 2nd iteration of this conference, the first of which was held in June of 2023.

Schedule (Tentative): Friday, March 13th, 2026

9:00-9:30am. Brain-healthy Mediterranean-style breakfast buffet

9:30-9:35. Rutger-Newark Chancellor Tonya Smith-Jackson, Convocational Remarks.

9:35-9:40am. Mark Gluck (Rutgers-Newark, Neuroscience). Meeting Logistics and Overview

Research Progress: 2025-2026

9:40am. Mark Gluck (Neuroscience, Rutgers-Newark).   Pathways to Healthy Aging in African Americans: A Longitudinal Cohort Study, 2016-2026 and Beyond

10:00am. Bernadette Fausto (Faculty Research Associate, Rutgers-Newark). Productivity Overview from  2025-2026  (Year 08 of NIH-Funded Study). 

Recent Findings from Studies of Our Newark Pathways Cohort

10:00am. Bernadette Fausto (Faculty Research Associate, Rutgers-Newark). Lower CD8+ T-cell Senescence Partially Mediates the Neuroprotection of Higher Aerobic Fitness

10:10am. Miray Budak (JSJ Postdoctoral Fellow, Rutgers-Newark). Genetic Influences on Vascular Stiffness and Plasma Markers of Neurodegeneration among Older African Americans. 

10:20am. Soodeh Moallemian (Postdoctoral Fellow, Rutgers-Newark). Plasma Inflammatory Biomarkers and Diffusion MRI Metrics as Predictors of Neuroinflammation in Preclinical Alzheimer’s Disease. 

10:30am. Payton White (Neuroscience PhD Student, Rutgers-Newark). Elevated REM Theta Activity Reflects Reduced Medial Temporal Lobe Dynamic Connectivity in Cognitively Healthy Older Adults.

10:35am. Victoria Paruzel (Epidemiology MS Student, Rutgers-Newark). The Resilience of Exceptional African American SuperAgers

New Data Collection Sites Planned in Rural Southern Regions:

10:40am. Elizabeth Disbrow (Louisiana State University-Shreveport). Aging Research and Community Engagement at Louisiana State University-Shreveport. 

10:50am. Shellie-Ann Levy (Univ. of Florida-Gainesville). Aging Research and Community Engagement at the University of Florida-Gainesville.

10:50am-11:15am. Coffee, Schmooze, and Stretch Break

New Directions in Newark from Pilot Studies With Additional Protocols (Rutgers Collaborations)

11:20am. Ryan Dougherty (Rutgers-NB, Kinesiology). Exercise Effort in Analysis of Fitness in Older African Americans. 

11:25am. Jean-Francois Daneult (Rutgers-Health, Rehabilitation). Gait and Motor Disturbances in Early Alzheimer’s Disease

11:30am. Tengteng Wang  (Rutgers-Health, Medicine). Gut Microbiome, Brain Health, and Alzheimer’s Risk

11:35am. Michelle Chen (Rutgers-Health, Neurology). Clinical Trial of Sleep Therapy for Alzheimer’s Risk Reduction

11:40am. Jack Tsao (Rutgers-Health, Neurology). A New Dementia and Memory Care Clinic at Rutgers in Newark.

11:45am. David Scarisbrook (Rutgers-Health, Neurosurgery). Cortical Thickness as a Marker of Neurodegeneration in Alzheimer’s disease. 

New Directions from Secondary Data Analyses (External Faculty):

11:50. Jason Richardson (University of Georgia, Physiology & Pharmacology). Toxicological and Immunological Aspects of Alzheimers’ Risk in African Americans. 

11:55. Kelly Nudelman (Indiana University, Genetics). Genomic Analyses of Risk and Resilience to Alzheimer’s Disease in African Americans.

11:50. Kevin Heffernan (Columbia University, Movement Science). Blood Vessel Aging and Brain Health in Older African Americans

Validating Health Implications of our Past Findings in an Ongoing Clinical Trial:

11:55. Bernadette Fausto (Faculty Research Associate, Rutgers-Newark). Determinants of Individual Differences in the Efficacy of Aerobic Exercise to Improve Brain Health and Reduce Alzheimer’s Disease Risk in Older African Americans.

12:05pm-12:30pm: General Discussion/Future Directions