Informant Measures Of Cognitive Decline In Mexico

I am an Assistant Professor in the Department of Internal Medicine’s Division of Geriatrics and Palliative Medicine at the University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston. My long-term career goal is to become an independent researcher leading an interdisciplinary team that identifies how family members and informants can be used to detect early warning signs of mild cognitive impairment and dementia for Mexicans and Mexican Americans. To accomplish this goal, I will complete three training objectives that build on my prior training in family caregiving for Mexican American families: (1) clinical use of family members and informants in diagnosis of dementia and mild cognitive impairment, (2) analysis of surveys and statistical methods for survey validation, and (3) career advancement and leadership development to gain essential competencies to function effectively as an independent extramurally-funded investigator, specifically by developing mentoring and leadership skills and enhancing manuscript and grant writing skills. Training in these areas will include taking coursework, shadowing interdisciplinary teams in clinical settings, and developing new research areas. My training activities are integrated with a research project. I will use data from the Mexican Health and Aging Study (MHAS), a nationally representative longitudinal study of older adults in Mexico, linked with the Auxiliary Study of Cognition (MexCog), an in-depth study of cognitive functioning of older adults in Mexico, as part of the international Harmonized Cognitive Assessment Protocol (HCAP) to complete the following specific aims: (Aim 1) describe the informant assessments in the population and how they vary by dementia status, and evaluate the informant assessments of cognition to estimate MCI and dementia prevalence, and (Aim 2) examine how adding the informant assessment improves the performance of the cognitive screening in the questionnaire. The expected findings of this research will provide evidence of the value of incorporating informant assessments of cognition in population studies to assess mild cognitive impairment and dementia and more accurately categorize marginal cases. Completion of the K01 mentored training and research plans will provide me with the knowledge, skills, and expertise required to understand measurement of cognitive functioning in the specific context of Mexicans to develop a program of research that blends life course social and health constructs with clinical data, with the goal of incorporating family members and informants as early warning signs of cognitive impairment and dementia for both Mexican and Mexican Americans