Webinar: Introduction to COSMIC - Examining cognitive ageing and dementia in diverse ethno-racial groups and geographical settings

Cohort Studies of Memory in an International Consortium, or COSMIC, is an international consortium that combines data from population-based longitudinal cohorts studies to identify common risk factors for dementia and cognitive decline. It is an Australian-led collaboration by the Centre for Healthy Brain Ageing (CHeBA) at UNSW Sydney, Australia, and is funded by the National Institutes of Health, USA. There are currently 59 member studies from 39 countries from six continents. COSMIC facilitates a better understanding of the determinants of cognitive ageing and neurocognitive disorders. This is being achieved by: harmonising shared, non-identifiable data from cohort studies that longitudinally examine change in cognitive function and the development of dementia in older individuals (60+ years), and performing mega- or meta-analyses using combined, harmonised data sets that yield collated results with enhanced statistical power, in addition to comparisons across diverse ethno-regional groups.

This presentation will highlight the current activities of COSMIC and directions for the future, including an appeal for greater involvement in COSMIC projects to expedite discovery and global equity to dementia research. A practical guide to conducting a COSMIC study will be provided, using a multi-country investigation into the prevalence of subjective cognitive decline (SCD) as a case example. The key steps involved from proposal to cohort selection and data harmonisation to analytical strategy and interpretation will be outlined, highlighting both the benefits and challenges of working with large-scale data across culturally and ethnically diverse populations. Attendees will gain insight into the collaborative processes, methodological considerations, and key findings that demonstrate the value of harmonised, cross-national approaches in global cognitive ageing research.

Speakers include Associate Professor and Atlantic Fellow (2020) Susanne Röhr and Professor Perminder Sachdev.