Driving Diversity in Brain Aging Research Through Intentional Recruitment: Charisse Winston-Gray, PhD, MSc

WATCH TIME: 6 minutes | Captions are auto-generated and may contain errors.

"The questions around the biological implications among different racial and ethnic groups have not been answered. Given that we’re using a social or structural framework to ask a biological question is complicated, but I also think it’s something that needs to be addressed. If there is no difference, then that’s okay, but we still want to make sure that everyone is being represented."

The Health and Aging Brain Study–Health Disparities (HABS-HD) study was intentionally designed to identify early indicators of Alzheimer disease (AD) and related dementias across diverse racial and ethnic groups by assessing AD–related biomarkers.¹ In this ongoing study, highly sensitive proteomics-based platforms will be used to measure biomarkers including Aβ42/40, total tau, neurofilament light chain, phosphorylated tau species, and glial fibrillary acidic protein. Analyses will evaluate biomarker distributions across cognitive diagnoses and racial and ethnic groups, examining associations between blood-based and neuroimaging biomarkers, and assessing the utility of blood biomarkers for predicting amyloid and tau positron emission tomography positivity in representative populations.

At the recently concluded 18th Clinical Trials on Alzheimer’s Disease (CTAD) Conference, held December 1-4, 2025, in San Diego, California, Charisse Winston-Gray, PhD, MSc, presented a talk titled “Strategies for Increased Representation in Trials from The NIA Health and Aging Brain Study.”² During her presentation, she noted that the work of the HABS-HD study may support the broad applicability of blood-based biomarkers across diverse populations and represent a step toward a population-informed precision medicine approach. In addition, Winston-Gray highlighted some of the study’s conclusions, including that intentional minority recruitment strategies may be applied to other clinical trials to improve participant representation.

In an interview with NeurologyLive^® at CTAD 2025, Charisse, an assistant professor of physiology and neuroscience at the University of Southern California in the Keck School of Medicine, emphasized that improving diversity in neurodegenerative research begins with intentional recruitment strategies. Throughout the conversation, she highlighted a shift away from one-size-fits-all clinical trial designs toward approaches that prioritize trust-building, community engagement, and culturally tailored outreach. She also discussed how diverse enrollment strengthens the interpretation of research outcomes by accounting for social, biological, and accessibility-related differences across populations.

Click here to view more coverage of CTAD 2025.

REFERENCES
1. Petersen ME, Zhou Z, Hall JR, et al. Health and Aging Brain Study-Health Disparities (HABS-HD) methods and partner characteristics. Alzheimers Dement (N Y). 2025;11(3):e70140. Published 2025 Aug 12. doi:10.1002/trc2.70140
2. Winston-Gray C. Strategies for Increased Representation in Trials from The NIA Health and Aging Brain Study. Presented at: CTAD 2025; December 1-4; San Diego, CA. OC38.