NEURODEGENERATIVE DISEASES AND THE ROLE OF GREEN SPACE: A DEEP LEARNING ASSESSMENT - PROJECT SUMMARY ALZHEI…

Assistance award details

Assistance award identifier

ASST_NON_R00AG066949_075

FAIN

R00AG066949

Recipient

TRUSTEES OF BOSTON UNIVERSITY

Awarding agency

Department of Health and Human Services

Funding agency

Department of Health and Human Services

Assistance listing (CFDA)

93.866

Total obligated

$837,054

Period

May 1, 2020 – Feb 28, 2025

Fiscal year

2022

Place of performance state

MA

Source file

FY2022_All_Assistance_Full_20261006.zip

Description

NEURODEGENERATIVE DISEASES AND THE ROLE OF GREEN SPACE: A DEEP LEARNING ASSESSMENT - PROJECT SUMMARY ALZHEIMER’S DISEASE AND RELATED DEMENTIAS (ADRD) HAVE WELL-ESTABLISHED RISK FACTORS SUCH AS PHYSICAL ACTIVITY (PA), DEPRESSION, AND HYPERTENSION (HTN). THESE RISK FACTORS DISPROPORTIONATELY AFFECT RACIAL MINORITY POPULATIONS, BUT THE MECHANISMS UNDERLYING RACIAL HEALTH DISPARITIES ARE NOT WELL UNDERSTOOD. IN THIS, GEOGRAPHIC FACTORS COULD BE KEY, AS PA, DEPRESSION AND HTN ARE STRONGLY AFFECTED BY GEOGRAPHIC EXPOSURES, INCLUDING GREEN SPACE. HOWEVER, GREEN SPACE IS TYPICALLY MEASURED WITH QUESTIONNAIRES, WHICH HAVE SUBSTANTIAL ERROR, OR SATELLITE-BASED INDEXES THAT ARE NONSPECIFIC AND PROVIDE NO INFORMATION ON THE TYPE OF VEGETATION (E.G., TREE VS. GRASS), NOR WHETHER THE VEGETATION IS WITHIN VIEW AT THE STREET LEVEL. AS A RESULT, NO STUDY HAS QUANTIFIED THE CONTRIBUTION OF GREEN SPACE TO RACIAL DISPARITIES IN ADRD. AND WHILE NOVEL TECHNOLOGIES SUCH AS GOOGLE STREET VIEWS (GSV) IMAGING ARE PROMISING DATA SOURCES FOR CAPTURING UNIQUE MEASURES OF GREEN SPACE, MANAGING, PROCESSING, AND ANALYZING HIGH-DIMENSIONAL DATA PRESENT SIGNIFICANT LOGISTICAL AND ANALYTICAL CHALLENGES, ESPECIALLY WHEN LINKING THESE DATA TO EXISTING DATA FROM LARGE PROSPECTIVE COHORTS. FINALLY, WE NEED TO UNDERSTAND GREEN SPACE IN THE CONTEXT OF OTHER POTENTIALLY CORRELATED GEOGRAPHIC EXPOSURES, OR THE URBAN EXPOSOME—THE TOTALITY OF LIFE- COURSE GEOGRAPHIC EXPOSURES (THE SET OF GREEN SPACE, AIR POLLUTANTS, NOISE, BUILT ENVIRONMENT, AND SOCIAL ENVIRONMENT)—TO ESTIMATE WHICH FACTORS DRIVE HEALTH. THIS PROPOSAL WILL ADDRESS THESE CHALLENGES BY USING GSV IMAGING TO ASSESS THE EFFECT OF GREEN SPACE ON PA, DEPRESSION, AND HTN, AS WELL AS SUBSEQUENT ADRD RISK WITHIN THE MULTI-ETHNIC STUDY OF ATHEROSCLEROSIS (MESA)—A 10-YEAR LONGITUDINAL STUDY OF 6,814 MEN AND WOMEN WITHOUT CLINICAL CARDIOVASCULAR DISEASE AT BASELINE FROM 4 RACIAL/ETHNIC GROUPS (NON-HISPANIC WHITE, AFRICAN-AMERICAN, CHINESE, AND HISP