Beth Marks and Jasmina Sisirak awarded $250,000 ​for Year 6 Supplement ​t​o Support the Implementation of the National Healthy Brain Initiative ​for People with Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities

Beth Marks (PI) and Jasmina Sisirak (Co-PI) have recently received Year 6 funding through the CDC’s National Healthy Brain Initiative to support implementation of the Healthy Brain Initiative for People with Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities (HBI-PwIDD). As part of the CDC’s Healthy Brain Initiative, HBI-PwIDD seeks to promote brain health and to address stigma, underdiagnosis, and disparities in Alzheimer’s disease and ​related dementia​s among people with intellectual and developmental disabilities through disability-affirming public health approaches.

In Year 6, ​t​he focus will be on expanding the dissemination of culturally inclusive resources, refining brain health guidelines for providers, and ​continued scaling ​of the ​HealthMatters Program and the HealthAdvocacy Program to strengthen caregiving support and foster ​brain health promotion. 

HBI-PwIDD is a Component B project within a robust, interconnected network. This network includes the Alzheimer’s Association (Component A), Component B organizations focused on populations heavily burdened by Alzheimer’s disease ​and related dementia (UsAgainstAlzheimer’s, ​The International Association for Indigenous Aging, and the UIC HealthMatters ​Program), and 43 state, local, territorial, and tribal recipients of the CDC’s BOLD Infrastructure Public Health Program.