Special Pilot Awards
In early 2026, the Animal Models for the Social Dimensions of Health and Aging Research Network hosted two Network-the-networks meetings, intended to foster collaboration between ours and other, analogous networks related to the social determinants of aging. After each meeting, select participants were invited to submit proposals for pilot projects that explicitly partnered with one of our sister networks with the aim of generating preliminary data to fund future K- and R-level grants.
Kristen Berendzen (UCSF) and the Rush Alzheimer’s Disease Center (Rush University)
Mechanisms linking social isolation and dementia risk
Social isolation and loneliness are major contributors to age-related health, and are associated with increased dementia risk. This project will integrate human cohort data from the Rush ADRC with mechanistic studies in prairie voles to identify biological pathways linking social isolation and loneliness to age-related brain dysfunction. By leveraging extensive psychosocial, cognitive, behavioral, and molecular phenotyping across species, the work aims to establish shared social and biological phenotypes associated with cognitive vulnerability and resilience. This cross-species approach will provide a foundation for identifying mechanisms through which social experiences influence cognitive and brain health across the lifespan.
Gagan Wig (UT Dallas) and the NIA Biomarker Network (UMich)
Functional Brain Network Organization as a Translational Bridge for Brain Aging in Humans and Mice
This project will develop new methods for harmonizing neuroimaging biomarkers of age-related changes in large-scale functional brain network organization within and across species. By focusing on shared systems-level brain network phenotypes, the work aims to establish common frameworks for comparing brain aging in humans and mice, facilitating the development of normative models, lifespan reference curves, and cross-species translational resources. Ultimately, these efforts will strengthen the translational bridge between human and animal research, enabling future investigations into how social determinants of health shape trajectories of brain aging across species.
Nathaniel Jenkins (UW Madison) and the Robert and Arlene Kogod Center on Aging (Mayo Clinic)
Cellular Senescence as a Mechanistic Link between Early Life Adversity and Premature Vascular Aging
Adverse childhood experiences are linked to premature cardiovascular aging, but the underlying cellular mechanisms remain unclear. This pilot study, in collaboration with Drs. Darren Baker and Bennett Childs at the Mayo Clinic Kogod Center on Aging, will pair human biomarker data from young adults with a transgenic mouse model (INK-ATTAC) to test whether early life stress drives the accumulation of senescent cells in blood vessels, and whether clearing those cells can reverse these effects.