Pamela Herd, Ph.D. / University of Michigan
Overview
As the population ages and the prevalence of dementia grows, a better understanding of what drives the risk for and resilience against Alzheimer's Disease and Related Dementias (ADRD) will have significant implications for individual health and well-being, as well as the broader costs associated with caring for these individuals.
A rapidly growing body of evidence shows that the roots of ADRD risk and resilience span the entire life course, including familial, educational, environmental, neighborhood, and broader social exposures. In short, early- and mid-life course experiences and exposures have increasingly been shown to shape ADRD risk and resilience. This research has been fueled, in part, by a shift towards multidisciplinary research, including important advancements in data collection and shared data resources.
Biography
Pamela Herd is the Carol Kakalec Kohn Professor of Social Policy and faculty associate at the Institute for Social Research Population Studies Center, and Survey Research Center at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor. Dr. Herd's award-winning research examines the intersection between social conditions, policy, inequality, and health and well-being over the life course. She is an elected member of the National Academy of Social Insurance and is currently one of the Co-Principal Investigators for General Social Survey, an investigator with the Wisconsin Longitudinal Study, and Chair of the NIH Data Monitoring Committee for the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent to Adult Health (Add Health).
Dr. Herd's current NIH-NIA funded research is centered on cognitive health, including the early- and mid-life social, behavioral, and environmental conditions that influence resilience against cognitive decline and dementia in later life. She is a multiple principal investigator (MPI) with Michal Engelman and Sanjay Asthana, on The Wisconsin Longitudinal Study titled Initial Lifetime’s Impact on Alzheimer’s Disease and Related Dementias (WLS-ILIAD), which introduced dementia tracking and rigorous AD diagnostic protocols into the nation’s longest-running cohort study. She is also an MPI with Sanjay Asthana and Katrina Walsemann for the Network on Education, Biosocial Pathways, and Dementia (R24AG077433) and the Network on Early-Life Determinants, Biosocial Pathways, and Dementia (1R33AG102584). These initiatives support a network of researchers examining the relationship between ADRD and early-life “exposome”— a set of social, educational, family, neighborhood and environmental conditions—as well as the biological and midlife social and behavioral pathways between early and late life ADRD risk and resilience.
About the Matilda White Riley Distinguished Lecturer
The Matilda White Riley Distinguished Lecturer was established in 2006 and honors the legacy of Matilda White Riley, a celebrated scientist and National Academy of Sciences member who transformed behavioral and social sciences research (BSSR) at the National Institutes of Health. Each year, an esteemed social and behavioral scientist delivers the lecture in recognition of outstanding contributions to BSSR that support NIH’s mission.
Reasonable Accommodation
Closed captioning will be available for the webinar. People who need reasonable accommodations to participate in this event should contact Mark Dennis at [email protected]. Requests should be made at least 5 days before the event.
Additional Information
Are you unable to attend? A recording of this presentation will be available approximately 1 month after the webinar.
This event is open to the public, and there will be an opportunity to ask questions at the end of the presentation. Please feel free to share this information widely.
