Lindsay Rotblatt, MS (Mentor: Michael Marsiske) has received funding for an NIH F31 Kirschstein Individual Research Fellowship award for her project entitled Cognitive Aging Trajectories: Cardiovascular Risk, White Matter, and Medication Predictors.
Funded by the National Institute on Aging, the two-year dissertation study will examine the associations between cardiovascular risk (including both risk factors like hypertension and comorbidities like myocardial infarction), brain-based measures of vascular neuropathology (white matter hyperintensities in regions of interest), and trajectories of change across four cognitive domains (Memory, Attention, Executive Function/Processing Speed, and Language). The study will further investigate whether pharmacological treatment (cardiovascular medication) mitigates cognitive decline. Ms. Rotblatt’s study will leverage up to 10-years of data from the National Alzheimer’s disease Coordinating Center (NACC) with over 20,000 cognitively diverse older adult participants at baseline. Through combining behavioral, neuropsychological, and neuroimaging data, the study seeks to provide new insight into disease risk and mitigation of cognitive aging.
Per NIH: “The overall goal of the NIH Ruth L. Kirschstein National Research Service Award (NRSA) program is to help ensure that a diverse pool of highly trained scientists is available in appropriate scientific disciplines to address the Nation’s biomedical, behavioral, and clinical research needs. In order to accomplish this goal, NRSA training programs are designed to train individuals to conduct research and to prepare for research careers. More information about NRSA programs may be found at the Ruth L. Kirschstein National Research Service Award (NRSA) website.
The purpose of the Ruth L. Kirschstein National Research Service Award (NRSA) Individual Predoctoral Fellowship (Parent F31) is to enable promising predoctoral students to obtain individualized, mentored research training from outstanding faculty sponsors while conducting dissertation research. Applicants for this F31 program are expected to propose a dissertation research project and training plan in scientific health-related fields relevant to the mission of the participating Institutes and Centers. This training plan should reflect the applicant’s dissertation research project, and facilitate and clearly enhance the individual’s potential to develop into a productive, independent research scientist. The training plan should document the need for, and the anticipated value of, the proposed mentored research and training in relationship to the individual’s research career goals. The training plan should also facilitate the fellow’s transition to the next stage of his/her research career.” The award provides support for stipend, tuition and fees, health insurance, travel, and institutional training costs.