African American Studies
Dr. Graff-Radford's research team has several projects that evaluate the differences in dementia between Caucasians and African Americans. Understanding these differences could lead to population-specific interventions.
The Alzheimer's Disease Research Center at Mayo Clinic provides free dementia evaluations for African Americans. John A. Lucas, Ph.D., led an initiative to set the norms for many standard neuropsychology tests, published in Mayo Older African American Normative Studies (MOAANS). These standards have prevented the over diagnosis of dementia.
We have also published research on the risk of APOE in the African American population, including autopsy findings of African Americans with dementia. Nilufer Taner, M.D., Ph.D. has led the team by publishing other important genetic factors related to African Americans. In addition, John A. Lucas, Ph.D. has worked to create a dementia-friendly community for African Americans.
Related publications
- Santos O, Pedraza O, Lucas J, Duara R, Greig-Custo M, Hanna Al-Shaikh F, Liesinger A, Bieniek K, Hinkle K, Lesser E, Crook J, Carrasquillo M, Ross O, Ertekin-Taner N, Graff-Radford N, Dickson D, Murray M. Ethnoracial differences in Alzheimer's disease from the FLorida Autopsied Multi-Ethnic (FLAME) cohort. Alzheimer's & Dementia. 2019;15:635.
- Conway O, Carrasquillo M, Wang X, Bredenberg J, Reddy J, Strickland S, Younkin C, Burgess J, Allen M, Lincoln S, Nguyen T, Malphrus K, Soto A, Walton R, Boeve B, Petersen R, Lucas J, Ferman T, Cheshire W, van Gerpen J, Uitti R, Wszolek Z, Ross O, Dickson D, Graff-Radford N, Ertekin-Taner N. ABI3 and PLCG2 missense variants as risk factors for neurodegenerative diseases in Caucasians and African Americans. Molecular Neurodegeneration. 2018;13:53.
- Jun G, Chung J, Mez J, Barber R, Beecham G, Bennett D, Buxbaum J, Byrd G, Carrasquillo M, Crane P, Cruchaga C, De Jager P, Ertekin-Taner N, Evans D, Fallin M, Foroud T, Friedland R, Goate A, Graff-Radford N, Hendrie H, Hall K, Hamilton-Nelson K, Inzelberg R, Kamboh M, Kauwe J, Kukull W, Kunkle B, Kuwano R, Larson E, Logue M, Manly J, Martin E, Montine T, Mukherjee S, Naj A, Reiman E, Reitz C, Sherva R, St George-Hyslop P, Thornton T, Younkin S, Vardarajan B, Wang L, Wendlund J, Winslow A; Alzheimer's Disease Genetics Consortium, Haines J, Mayeux R, Pericak-Vance M, Schellenberg G, Lunetta K, Farrer L. Transethnic genome-wide scan identifies novel Alzheimer's disease loci. Alzheimer's & Dementia. 2017;13:727.
- N'Songo A, Carrasquillo M, Wang X, Burgess J, Nguyen T, Asmann Y, Serie D, Younkin S, Allen M, Pedraza O, Duara R, Greig Custo M, Graff-Radford N, Ertekin-Taner N. African American exome sequencing identifies potential risk variants at Alzheimer disease loci. Neurology Genetics. 2017;3:e141.
- N'Songo A, Carrasquillo M, Wang X, Nguyen T, Asmann Y, Younkin S, Allen M, Duara R, Custo M, Graff-Radford N, Ertekin-Taner N. Comprehensive Screening for Disease Risk Variants in Early-Onset Alzheimer's Disease Genes in African Americans Identifies Novel PSEN Variants. Journal of Alzheimer's Disease. 2017;56:1215.
- Mez J, Chung J, Jun G, Kriegel J, Bourlas A, Sherva R, Logue M, Barnes L, Bennett D, Buxbaum J, Byrd G, Crane P, Ertekin-Taner N, Evans D, Fallin M, Foroud T, Goate A, Graff-Radford N, Hall K, Kamboh M, Kukull W, Larson E, Manly J; Alzheimer's Disease Genetics Consortium, Haines J, Mayeux R, Pericak-Vance M, Schellenberg G, Lunetta K, Farrer L. Two novel loci, COBL and SLC10A2, for Alzheimer's disease in African Americans. Alzheimer's & Dementia. 2017;13:119.