A big holler-y grateful shout-out to **Amanda Gassett**, Research Scientist at University of Washington, for presenting clearly and constructively on dodging immortal time bias in studies of air pollution's health effects. #EnviroBrain #CONFAB @busph.bsky.social

@ccolvin94.bsky.social presents meticulously thought-thru & generated results on life course earnings trajectories & cognitive decline, by birth cohort. The #MELODEM2025 equivalent of a walk-off HR will launch us into deep thoughts, conversations, and collaborations over the coming weeks and months.

More enlightening lightning (talks) at #MELODEM2025: Justina Avila-Rieger dares to wade thru the thicket that is reproductive status (and aging) in relation to dementia risk. Idea: exploit DNA methylation, which can reflect changes in the endocrine system and hormonal status. @melodem.bsky.social

Fluoride. Great for oral health and stunning teeth. Does it exposure to it in childhood related to cogn later in life? @ #MELODEM2025, Rob Warren (U MN) points out the extraordinarily high exposures in studies of kids' IQs: not relevant to what's in our public water supply. @melodem.bsky.social

Now up @ #MELODEM2025, @astokespop.bsky.social teases out the contribution of secular trends in midlife cardiometabolic health in relation to trends in dementia incidence and prevalence in the US. @melodem.bsky.social

Our next lightning bolt @ #MELODEM2025 is from Katrina Kezios, presenting research on incident traumatic experiences in relation to cog change in older adults. Upshot: these exp were assoc'd w cog decline, esp among those w worse financial well-being. @melodem.bsky.social

Iris Strangmann issues the first bolt of a lightning talk in today's #MELODEM2025. Does being multilingual offer cognitive benefits in older age? She is using data from LASI-DAD to answer this q, evaluating assns within strata of urbanicity and SES.

Carrying the #MELODEM2025 baton now is Melinda Power (GW). Among ppl who have #dementia, a large % have not been diagnosed. What predicts who gets diagnosed in a timely fashion? @melodem.bsky.social

A key ingredient to the appeal and success of #MELODEM2025 (as with other #MELODEM mtgs) comes from the generous blocks of time dedicated to discussion. And a key ingredient of that discussion is excellent moderating.

Now at #MELODEM2025 Is reducing/removing amyloid from the brain a reasonable surrogate for slowing/stopping cognitive decline in dementia? @sfackley.bsky.social uses data from the A4 RCT (of solanezumab) to answer this q, ... @melodem.bsky.social

Why care about error in the measure of AD-related blood biomarkers? @ #MELODEM2025, Eleanor Hayes-Larson examines situations when a biomarker is the "exposure" and when it is the "outcome," using ADNI-informed simulations. @melodem.bsky.social

Closing out a day jammed w thoughtful talks @ #MELODEM2025 on methods challenges in #dementia research is Jingxuan Wang, presenting on the #AllOfUs research study and the extent to which it represents the US population. With implications for #research on #dementia. @melodem.bsky.social

The @manlyepic.bsky.social draws on #inclusionscience to show how to carry out meaningful #dementia #biomarker research in populations that carry that highest #dementia risk, e.g., Black and Latinx populations in the US. #MELODEM2025 @melodem.bsky.social

At bat @ #MELODEM2025 is @ryanmandrews.bsky.social who reported on his journey through understanding the potential for selection bias in a brain MRI study in which the participant pool resulted from a complex 2-stage sampling process: (1) stratified RS; (2) volunteering.

@palolili23.bsky.social argues (4 #MELODEM2025) that causal estimands have 4 elements + a 5th: intercurrent events. Ie, events that prevent us from observing the exposure or outcome, e.g., death. @melodem.bsky.social

In LASI-DAD, more formal education is assoc'd w more cognitive decline. Emma Nichols broke down 3 candidate non-causal explanations: practice effects, differential mortality, & regression to the mean. #MELODEM2025 @melodem.bsky.social

Personal bias: I'm psyched for Walter Kremers's #MELODEM2025 talk on the adverse cognitive effects of total joint arthroplasty. Some TJA exposes recipients to neurotoxic metals. Tricky issues: identifying exchangeable populations. @melodem.bsky.social

Terry Therneau (Mayo) reminds us @ #MELODEM2025 that studying cog progression faces these challenges: individual-specific follow-up is often shorter than the range of all ages in a study, informative attrition, dif quirkiness of biomarkers & cog performance, missing data ... @melodem.bsky.social

Audrey Murchland uses a clever randomizing feature in the design of cognitive aging research in #NHS2 to show that test practice effects exist both in terms of frequency of testing and interval between tests. #MELODEM2025 @melodem.bsky.social

Magali Blanco (UW) provides real talk @ #MELODEM2025 on the challenges of studying how #airpollution mixtures affect #dementia-related #neuropathology, when that #neuropathology is measured in (highly selective) #autopsy samples. @melodem.bsky.social

Persisting in the face of HHS's discriminatory termination of his NIH grant, Mateo Farina presents @ #MELODEM2025 on what's known (& not known) on #cognitiveaging among #LGBTQ / #SGM individuals. Intro to #QSNAPS, a cohort, set in 4 states in the South. #PRIDEinADResearch @melodem.bsky.social

Kudos to Paul Crane, @alvinthomas.bsky.social, @ruijiachen.bsky.social, @tejenson.bsky.social, Mateo Farina, & Magali Blanco for magnificently thundering toward the challenge of delivering to-the-point lightning talks @ #MELODEM2025. @melodem.bsky.social

Now @ #MELODEM2025, @tejenson.bsky.social walks us thru how errors in automated address histories can propagate errors in measures of spatiotemporal exposures over the #lifecourse. --> consequences for validly estimating effects of the exposome on #dementia. @melodem.bsky.social

What are the consequences of being conceptually and operationally vague about "social isolation" in research on its effects on #dementia risk? At #MELODEM2025, @ruijiachen.bsky.social proposes #multiverseanalyses to probe estimated effects using a range of plausible defns. @melodem.bsky.social

At #MELODEM2025, Paul Crane (UW) channeled the spirits of Statler, Waldorf (& long-standing traditions in editing for relentlessly clear communication) in beseeching #dementia researchers to know "higher" from "increase," and "change" from "difference." @melodem.bsky.social

DC today

Great evening to #StandUpForScience in Rochester, NY @standupforscience.bsky.social @knowledgeactionroc.bsky.social @indivisibleroc.bsky.social

#StandUpForScience, Boston

Tomorrow's #MELODEM working group session, at 11am US ET, features Neal Jawadekar presenting: "#Statin Use and #Dementia: Heterogeneous Treatment Effects and Optimal Treatment Rules." Want to be on our distribution list, complete w zoom deets? Mosey on over to ... sites.bu.edu/melodem/

TODAY at 11A US ET, #MELODEM brings you @relajoie.bsky.social and Ganna Blazhenets presenting: "Harmonization of #amyloid-PET quantification for #ADRD research: putting #Centiloids to the test" More deets on MELODEM & how to hop on the distribution list: sites.bu.edu/melodem/