Genetic Epidemiology and Aging Research

The Genetic Epidemiology and Aging Research program in SRI International's Center for Health Sciences currently comprises two major research topics:

1. Tobacco use across the lifetime, with particular emphasis on the multidimensionality of the nicotine dependence phenotype and identification of genetically informative dimensions of nicotine dependence.

2. Understanding the genetic and environmental causes of variation in neuropsychological task performance, and decline in performance with normal aging and covariation with brain morphology and midlife risk factors.

Research on tobacco use is part of SRI's Nicotine Addiction Research Center and is funded by federal grants from the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) and National Cancer Institute (NCI). Research on aging uses data from two longitudinal studies of aging: the Western Collaborative Group Study (WCGS), and the National Heart Lung and Blood Institutes (NHLBI) Twin Study. Aging research is currently sponsored by internal funds from SRI.

Current Projects

Our current research projects include:

• Biometric and Measured Genetic Research on Smoking
• Heritable and Social-Environment Risks for Substance Use
• Genetic and Environmental Causes of Variation in Cognition and Covariation with Brain Morphology and Midlife Risk Factors

Past Projects

Our past research projects include:

• Pharmacokinetics of Nicotine in Twins
• Analysis of Patterns of Tobacco Use in Families
• CVD Risk Factors and Brain Morphology in NHLBI Twins
• Sleep Apnea in Elderly Male Twins
• Ambulatory Blood Pressure and Cognition in the Elderly

Staff

The program is led by Gary Swan, Ph.D., director of SRI's Center for Health Sciences, and Janet Brigham, Ph.D., Senior Research Psychologist. Visit our Staff page for information on other staff members.

Collaborators

Learn about some of our collaborators.

Publications

Visit our Publications page for a list of selected publications.

Related Links

Get linked to some of our clients and other organizations on our Related Links page.

Contact Us

For more information contact Gary Swan, director of the Center for Health Sciences.