Jessica Caldwell, PhD

"The simplistic argument is that we’ve been studying men only, and then men and women, for quite a long time. We don’t need that comparison. Of course, that argument could be made with other divisions as well."

, was awarded a granted expected to total $1.8 million from the National Institutes of Health to study the interactive effects of gender and sex on biological processes in Alzheimer disease (AD). Over the next 4 years, Caldwell and her team will examine how gender-linked stress exposure and estrogen may interact to impact memory, inflammation in the body, and brain activation and connectivity in women at risk for AD.

Caldwell currently serves as the director for the Women’s Alzheimer’s Movement Prevention Center at 

, which celebrated its 1-year inauguration with the grant. Since opening its doors in summer 2020, the center has welcomed women from 40 states across the country and received honorable mention in Fast Company’s list of 2021 

. Caldwell hopes that her research will continue to drive change within the space and create more all-women and women-inclusive trials.

she provided perspective on the ways genetics impact AD trial design and the goal of enrolling homogenous populations. She also pled her case for why the space needs more studies focused on the effects of AD in women, considering women are at a higher risk for the disease.

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The director of the Women’s Alzheimer’s Movement Prevention Center at Cleveland Clinic discussed the role genetics play in Alzheimer disease and the importance for all-women trials. [WATCH TIME: 2 minutes]

Prioritizing Women and Genetics in Alzheimer Disease Trials: Jessica Caldwell, PhD

"Trying to personalize and capture the whole person when they come into clinical trials will be very important. That includes genetics, but does not rely on genetics as the mechanism of further tailoring development of drugs."

A significant hurdle in developing therapeutics and care models for Alzheimer disease (AD) that work for people of all ethnic and racial backgrounds is the recruitment and retention of traditionally underrepresented groups in clinical trials. Previous research indicating a higher risk of AD among certain groups of individuals has forced clinicians to stress the importance of inclusion. While most clinical trials aim to have a homogenous population, excluding these patients could have potentially harmful long-term effects on the effectiveness of and process for future approved medications.

, understands there are complexities in recruiting these patients to these clinical trials. Caldwell, the director of the Women’s Movement Prevention Center at 

, will head a recently announced project that aims to uncover why women are more likely to be impacted by AD and how to reduce that risk. She anticipates that the data from this study will provide evidence linking greater lifetime gender-based stressor exposures to poorer verbal memory in women at risk for AD, as well as processes likely to contribute to sex and gender disparities in the disease.

Caldwell discussed the complexities in compiling relatively homogenous populations for AD clinical trials. She noted that while genetics can complicate these studies, they are crucial to understanding the true efficacy of investigational interventions.

The director of the Women’s Prevention Center at Cleveland Clinic discussed why understanding genetics may help drug development of Alzheimer disease treatments. [WATCH TIME: 2 minutes]

Improving Alzheimer Disease Trials With Genetics: Jessica Caldwell, PhD

"The research needs to focus on a number of different things, including whether or not we are inviting people to the research in the same way. Lots of studies have shown that White people come to the research because they’re recruited through the clinic while non-White people get recruited because we’re supposed to recruit non-White people. It’s a very different way to sample people in terms of their concerns and risks."

Although it has been previously documented that the frequency of Alzheimer disease (AD) dementia is higher in women, sex differences in the incidence of AD dementia are less than clear. To better understand the effects of gender and sex in AD, the National Institutes of Health (NIH) awarded a 4-year, $1.8-million grant to Jessica Caldwell, PhD, director, Women’s Alzheimer’s Movement Prevention Center, 

. The grant marked the 1-year anniversary of the center’s opening, which was the first prevention center designed specifically for women.

Caldwell will use the grant to study how gender-linked stress exposure and estrogen may interact to impact memory, inflammation in the body, and brain activation and connectivity in women at risk for AD. She hopes that the findings will help to inform development of interventions targeting stress and inflammation to reduce AD risk.

Caldwell discussed the details of the grant and how it will be utilized. She also provided insight on some of the biggest remaining questions regarding the impact of genetics and sex in AD risk and prevalence.

The director of The Women’s Alzheimer’s Movement Prevention Center at Cleveland Clinic discussed her recently awarded NIH grant and her work to understand why women are more likely to be impacted by Alzheimer disease. 

Jessica Caldwell, PhD

Articles

Prioritizing Women and Genetics in Alzheimer Disease Trials: Jessica Caldwell, PhD

Improving Alzheimer Disease Trials With Genetics: Jessica Caldwell, PhD

Studying Effects of Gender and Sex in Alzheimer Disease: Jessica Caldwell, PhD

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