CAPAS
The San Antonio CAPAS is a joint effort of the University of Texas at San Antonio, UTSA, and UT Health San Antonio, UTHSCSA, funded by a P30 grant from the National Institute on Aging (P30AG097142).
It is one of 16 Centers focused on the Demography and Economics of Aging (D&E Centers) funded by the NIA, and one of three focused on aging and AD/ADRD. All these centers are coordinated through the National Institute on Aging Demography and Economics Coordinating Center.
The research themes of the 6-year program emphasize the unique attributes of the Hispanic life course, including resilience, in the United States and abroad that yield disparities in protective and risk factors for AD/ADRD in old age. Our goal is to improve cognitive aging and reduce disparities and the impact of AD/ADRD among Latinos, by accelerating cross-national research and population science on bio-social, neuropsycho-social, and socio-structural processes.
The Mission of the San Antonio CAPAS is to reduce the gap in AD/ADRD incidence experienced by Hispanics/Latinos, the largest and fastest-growing racial or ethnic minority group of older adults in the country. Hispanics live longer than non-Hispanic whites, but their earlier onset of many age-related chronic diseases — including Alzheimer’s Diseases and Related Dementias (AD/ADRD) — results in longer lives with cognitive impairment and a higher caregiving burden for Latinos. Yet, many of the socioeconomic and biosocial factors and pathways behind this deterioration are unknown and understudied.
We seek to narrow these gaps by bringing together multidisciplinary groups of experts and research networks in Hispanic demography, sociology, AD/ADRD epidemiology, neuropsychology, population economics, public health disparities, and experience in longitudinal studies of AD/ADRD research and Hispanic aging.
CAPAS is organized into three inter-related cores to achieve the Center goals.
Get to know our leadership.