The Emory Global Diabetes Research Center (EGDRC) has received a $22 million grant from the National Institute of Aging. The grant will support the Cardiometabolic Risk Reduction in South Asia (Precision-CARRS) Cohort in exploring the links between diabetes and Alzheimer's disease and related dementias.
Studies show that individuals with diabetes, especially Type 2, face a heightened and accelerated risk of developing Alzheimer's disease and other forms of dementia.
In recent years, researchers have introduced the term"Type 3 diabetes" to describe the theory that insulin resistance and dysfunction of insulin-like growth factors in the brain may contribute to the development of Alzheimer's disease. However, more research is needed to better understand the link between diabetes and Alzheimer's in order to improve detection and enable timely interventions.
K.M. Venkat Narayan, MD, executive director of EGDRC and lead principal investigator says, "This funding will bring a new dimension to the massive CARRS program and dive deeply into the natural history of dementia, and the connections between cardiometabolic disease and dementia."
The CARRS cohort study originated 17 years ago as a population-based cohort of South Asians serving to address existing and emerging questions related to cardiometabolic disease. Since its inception, the CARRS cohort has grown to follow a diverse population-based sample of more than 20,000 South Asian adults aged 20 years and older.
This grant represents a new phase of the study, Precision-CARRS-Brain, which was conceptualized at the 2023 Annual CARRS meeting in Kochi, India, where global investigators gathered to brainstorm and discuss how to move the needle forward.
"Understanding the link between diabetes and Alzheimer's could revolutionize how we approach both conditions," says collaborating partner, Allan Levey, MD, PhD, director of the Goizueta Alzheimer's Disease Research Center. "Our collaboration, supported by this significant grant, aims to uncover these connections and pave the way for innovative treatments that address the root causes of neurodegenerative diseases."
Driving this initiative, alongside Narayan and Levey, is a global multidisciplinary team of principal researchers from India; Suvarna Alladi, MD, professor of neurology, National Institute of Mental Health and Neurosciences; Dorairaj Prabhakaran, MD, executive director of the Centre for Chronic Disease Control; and Vishwanathan Mohan, MD, president and chief of diabetes research at Madras Diabetes Research Foundation (MDRF).
"Our collaboration with Emory started nearly two decades ago and it continues to evolve," says Prabhakaran. "With a phenomenal collective of experts we have on the Precision-CARRS-Brain team, understanding the link between cardiometabolic disease and Alzheimer's will not only aid in early intervention and prevention, help produce innovative treatments, and improve patient outcomes at a local or national level but globally as well."
The CARRS annual meetings are pivotal for collaboration and for brainstorming future research. This year, the 2024 meeting is being held on Emory's campus, Oct. 1-3 for the first time since the program's launch almost two decades ago. Nearly 30 researchers from India will join EGDRC to discuss what's the next big thing, recent successes, and what the future of cardiometabolic and diabetes research looks like.
