Greater Boston is the site of two long-standing and accomplished National Institute on Aging (NIA) Alzheimer’s Disease Research Center (ADRC) programs: MADRC (Massachusetts ADRC at Massachusetts General Hospital) and BU-ADRC (Boston University ADRC). These 2 ADRCs include national and international leaders in Alzheimer disease and related dementias (ADRD), epidemiology and biomarker research. Yet, structural impediments—including in infrastructure, neighborhood-level segregation as well as systems factors that limit cooperation across health and academic medical centers in the region—have limited the extent to which participants who are Black, Latino or Hispanic, or from other minority groups can benefit from these burgeoning and vibrant research programs.

Further, these 2 ADRCs do not have a focus on behavioral health intervention development for clinical translation of novel behavioral targets, developing new behavioral interventions, and implementation within hospital and community settings – or on providing research training in these important areas. Further, while our local/regional research programs are ideally positioned to address the ADRD and behavioral health research needs of communities of color, there has been a dearth of faculty from underrepresented in medicine (UiM) backgrounds involved in this research.

To address these gaps in ADRD behavioral health research among minority older adults—and the UiM scientific workforce needed to meet them—new strategies for scientific collaboration in education, training and community engagement are required. The new Alzheimer’s-related RCMAR Massachusetts Center for Alzheimer and DEmeNtia BehaVIoral ReSearch In MinOrity AgiNg (Mass-ENVISION) was designed to resolve these gaps through the following:

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Aim 1. Provide collaborative resources and infrastructure to support ADRD behavioral health training needs of RCMAR Scientists. (Leadership and Administrative Core, LAC)

Aim 2. Provide training and sustained and tailored mentoring for RCMAR Scientists in the development, testing, and implementation of clinical and behavioral interventions for racial and ethnic minority older adults with ADRD and their informal care partners. (Research Education Component, REC)

Aim 3. Provide innovative training and support for RCMAR Scientists in data and analysis skills in behavioral research, including big data analytics and digital health, to bridge the “digital divide”. (Data and Analysis Core, AnC)

Aim 4. Provide rigorous, novel methods and resources for recruitment and long-term engagement of minority older adults with ADRD and their informal care partners in research. (Community Liaison & Recruitment Core, CLRC)