Project Grant R01NS147343

The National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke awarded The Trustees of the University of Pennsylvania $658,729 on September 15, 2026, under the Extramural Research Programs in the Neurosciences and Neurological Disorders program (CFDA 93.853) to conduct a pooled cohort study examining associations between traumatic brain injury across the life course and later-life cognitive decline and dementia risk.

The research leverages existing data from four NIH-funded ongoing prospective cohort studies with decades of follow-up to identify preventive and mechanistic insights into post-TBI Alzheimer's disease and related dementias. The study tests the central hypothesis that TBI is associated with dementia risk through direct neurodegenerative pathways and through additive or synergistic indirect pathways in combination with other dementia risk factors, with effects potentially differing across the life course. The three specific aims determine the impact of cumulative TBI exposure on cognitive trajectories and dementia risk; quantify how pre- and post-injury vascular risk factor comorbidities influence these associations; and identify potential mechanisms by evaluating associations of TBI with blood-based and brain biomarkers.

Performance occurs in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The period of performance runs through August 31, 2031. The award is a Project Grant, an assistance type supporting investigator-initiated extramural research.