S u c c e s s o f S A N A R

The success of Dr. Alberto Ramos’s Sleep in Neurocognitive Aging in Alzheimer’s Disease (SANAR) study was among our EMBI major scientific accomplishments this year. This $14 million R01 multicentered grant was awarded to investigate the impact of obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) on cognitive aging and the risk of Alzheimer’s disease and other related dementias in Hispanic/Latino adults. It is a grand study requiring an abundance of coordinating across the four major US sites, committees, staff and Co-PIs to operationalize. Dr. Ramos together with his co-investigators and Dr. Rundek has assembled a research analytic team composed of a senior statistician, two neuroscience graduate students, two neurology instructors and experts in cognitive disorders and neuroimaging markers of neurodegeneration. In preparation for this project application, he completed multiple analyses examining associations between sleep apnea, cognitive decline, mild cognitive impairment and neuroimaging markers of vascular disease and neurodegeneration using MRI. Some of these results were presented in two presentations at the Association of Professional Sleep Societies Meeting (SLEEP 2022) in Charlotte, North Carolina. Both presentations were selected for oral/platform and poster presentations. Dr. Ramos and his team also completed analysis evaluating modifiers of sleep and cognitive decline with visual impairment findings, which were presented at the 2022 Alzheimer’s Association International Conference (AAIC) in San Diego, Ca.