Deborah Rose, MD

2025 McKnight Clinical Translational Research Scholarship in Cognitive Aging and Age-Related Memory Loss

Traumatic childhood events and age-related cognitive decline in marginalized groups 

Institution: National Institutes of Health

Project Summary:

Age-related cognitive decline is a significant public health concern, particularly within racially and ethnically diverse or marginalized populations. Traumatic events during early life known as adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) have emerged as critical drivers of cognitive impairment and neurodegeneration among members of marginalized populations, but it is not fully understood how ACEs contribute to cognitive decline. 

One possibility is that chronic stress disrupts how the hypothalamus and pituitary and adrenal glands work together (the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal, or HPA, axis). This amplifies inflammatory responses and creates a feedback loop that can accelerate age-related cognitive decline.  

Dr. Rose will investigate how ACEs are associated with cognitive performance and biomarkers of neurodegeneration, and how this association differs across ethnic and racial groups. She’ll then look at how these ACEs relate to the HPA axis and neuroinflammation.  

Certain ACEs are experienced more frequently by marginalized groups in the US, placing them at potentially higher risk for cognitive impairment. Understanding how ACEs impact cognitive performance is crucial for developing interventions to reduce inequitable cognitive decline.  

This research is funded by the McKnight Brain Research Foundation through the American Brain Foundation, in collaboration with the American Academy of Neurology