Both COVID-19 and Alzheimer’s Disease have had devastating and disproportionate effects on African Americans. Three Rutgers University researchers seek to address important gaps in understanding not only the cognitive, neural, and immunological consequences of COVID-19 in older African Americans but also how those consequences can impact this population’s risk for Alzheimer’s Disease.
With a recently awarded, one-year grant for $643,396 from the National Institutes of Health’s National Institute on Aging (NIA), Mark A. Gluck, PhD, Patricia Fitzgerald-Bocarsly, PhD, and Maria Laura Gennaro, MD, are collaborating to explore the links between COVID-19 and Alzheimer’s disease, asking questions including:
- What differentiates older COVID-19 “long haulers” from those who recovered from COVID-19 fully?
- Why is age a risk factor for both COVID-19 and Alzheimer’s disease?
- Does having had COVID-19 increase one’s future risk for Alzheimer’s disease?
- Is one’s future risk for Alzheimer’s disease-related to the severity of COVID-19 symptoms?
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