Methods

Team

Emma Nichols

University of Southern California

Epidemiologist & Domain Lead

Kayleigh Keller

Colorado State University

Biostatistician

Yao-Yi Chiang

University of Minnesota

Computer Scientist

Erik Meijer

University of Southern California

Economist

Birgit G. Claus Henn

Boston University

Environmental Epidemiologist

Overview

The Methods team focuses on key statistical and methodological issues that pose important challenges to research on Alzheimer’s disease and related dementias (AD/ADRD) and the exposome across the six substantive GECC exposome domains.

Research in this area is cross-cutting, multidisciplinary, and collaborative, focusing on topics impacting multiple domains, including the appropriate measurement of exposome domains, and the development and use of appropriate models to describe the associations between exposures and AD/ADRD outcomes.

The Methods core has three overarching aims:

Improve and refine exposure estimates over time and space

Estimates of various exposures, such as air quality or access to healthcare services, are often based on imperfect data. The methods team will focus on comparing, assessing, and developing a range of approaches to reduce bias and increase precision of estimates in the presence of many of the commonly occurring data challenges across substantive domains.

Model the impacts of multiple exposures simultaneously

Though research often focuses on one exposure at a time, individuals exist in a complicated world and are constantly faced with multiple, potentially interacting, exposures. Understanding and developing the optimal approaches for capturing and modeling these interactions is an important methodological topic.

Minimize bias in analyses estimating the effect of exposome features

There are many possible sources of bias or reasons why a study may get the wrong answer. Issues around who is in the study (selection bias) or the quality of measurement (measurement error) are important topics that the Methods team will explore. Additionally, understanding how to synthesize evidence and triangulate findings across different types of studies can help in reducing risk of bias.

Priorities

Community Insights

In the fall of 2024, the GECC hosted a series of town hall meetings with hundreds of unique participants. These meetings yielded critical insights for the Methods domain, including highlighting key themes and gaps in research. Even among conversations that focused on specific exposome domains, such as the social environment, questions related to methodological approaches were pervasive throughout discussions.

Key Themes

  • Measurement of exposures and outcomes
  • Lifecourse research and cumulative exposures
  • Interactions between exposures
  • Mixture methods
  • Harmonization

Gaps in research

  • Comparisons and documentation of methods for assessing lifecourse exposures and interactions or mixtures,
  • Best practices for conducting harmonized research across cohorts or contexts.
  • Consideration of mixtures across and within domains

Steps to Improve Methods in Exposome Research

  1. Create documentation regarding best practices
  2. Discuss comparisons of different existing methodologic approaches
  3. Conduct simulation studies to evaluate the performance of different methods for different questions or types of data
  4. Evaluate the performance of innovative approaches to address the limitations of existing methods

Learn about other exposome domains

Policy Environment

Methods

Community Services

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