About

Mission

The Boston University-Quantitative Population Science and Healthy Cognitive Aging Research Program (BU-SHARP) is an interdisciplinary center that works to bring together researchers from demography, sociology, economics, epidemiology, gerontology, and related fields to advance research on Alzheimer’s Disease and Alzheimer’s Disease-Related Dementias (AD/ADRD) related to three cross-cutting themes: (1) between and within group patterning of AD/ADRD onset, progression, and consequences in disproportionately affected populations, (2) individual and interpersonal social resources and mechanisms that impact this patterning, and (3) modifiable contextual influences that may serve as strategies to reduce the incidence and burden of AD/ADRD across the United States.

Objectives

As a center, BU-SHARP has four objectives:

  1. Foster connections between research initiatives across Boston University focused on demography, sociology, economics, and epidemiology to stimulate interdisciplinary research on AD/ADRD.
  2. Expand collaborations beyond Boston University, leveraging national / international research networks, to foster mentorship for emerging scholars and facilitate cross-institutional research.
  3. Provide pilot funding and technical assistance to early-stage investigators, with the aim of transitioning to full projects with external funding.
  4. Enhance access to underutilized datasets and methodological resources to support high-quality research on AD/ADRD in populations disproportionately affected.

BU-SHARP works to achieve these objectives by organizing programming and other opportunities and maintaining resources for the AD/ADRD research community at Boston University and across the United States.

Organization

Founded in July 2026, BU-SHARP is the eighteenth P30 Center on the Demography and Economics (D&E) of Aging funded by the National Institute on Aging. Read the press release from Boston University announcing BU-SHARP.

The BU-SHARP center has three cores:

  • Administrative and Research Support Core (Core A): This core oversees BU-SHARP’s administrative, financial, and operational activities, ensures integration across cores, and contains the Executive and Advisory leadership committees. The Core also works to ensure effective communication across BU-SHARP, coordinate cross-campus research collaborations, support recruitment and development of early-career investigators, and plan new initiatives to address emerging priorities.
  • Program Development (Pilot) Core (Core B): This Core supports innovative, small-scale research projects aligned with BU-SHARP’s research themes and mentorship of emerging scholars who receive pilot grants, with the goal of preparing Emerging Scholars for NIH R-series or K-series submissions within two years.
  • Communication and Dissemination Core (Core C): This Core ensures the center’s activities, resources, and research are communicated to a wide range of audiences internal and external to Boston University. It also ensures the timely dissemination of research findings and data tools to relevant audiences (e.g., researchers, health professionals, media, other professional groups, and the general public).

People

BU-SHARP is led by principal investigators Dr. Deborah Carr, Dr. Maria Glymour, and Dr. Andrew Stokes and co-investigators Dr. Tal Gross, Dr. Christopher Robertson, and Dr. Jennifer Weuve. Learn more about BU-SHARP’s leadership, along with our network of affiliates and pilot grant recipients.

Contact

Learn more about how to contact BU-SHARP and stay connected with the center’s community, programming, and resources via social media.