a Conference

Thursday, 11/02/2023 to 11/03/2023.   ARCHIVED EVENT

Location: Minneapolis, MN

Care About How Education Affects Later-Life Cognition or Health?

Apply for Funding to Attend the 2023 EdSHARe Mini-Conference!

Education Studies for Healthy Aging Research (EdSHARe) is an interdisciplinary, multisite, collaborative research project investigating the intersecting socioeconomic, institutional, and biological pathways through which education and early life conditions impact later-life health and cognition. See edshareproject.org for more information about EdSHARe.

EdSHARe maintains two long-term cohort studies that began with large, diverse, nationally-representative samples of American high school students: The National Longitudinal Study of the High School Class of 1972 (NLS-72) and High School and Beyond (HSB); the latter began with high school sophomores and seniors in 1980. Both cohorts were reinterviewed repeatedly from high school through early adulthood; have been linked to high school transcripts and other administrative records; and feature high rates of survey response. HSB sample members were reinterviewed in 2013/2014 and 2021/2022 (at age ~60), when they completed surveys and cognitive assessments (drawn from the Harmonized Cognitive Assessment Protocol, or HCAP), and provided saliva and blood from which we have derived biomarkers. NLS-72 will be reinterviewed in 2024/2025, and will include surveys, in-person cognitive assessments, saliva- and blood-based biomarkers, and MRIs.

The 2023 EdSHARe Mini-Conference will be held in Minneapolis on November 2nd and 3rd. The conference will be an opportunity to:

  • Learn more about the HSB and NLS-72 cohort studies
  • Share and get feedback on your ideas for using the cohort data
  • Connect with other scholars doing research in this area

APPLY HERE for up to $1,500 in support to attend the EdSHARe Mini-Conference. Applications are due by September 11 at 4:30pm CT but may be submitted earlier. We suggest that you review materials on the EdSHARe website and/or ask questions of one of the project’s co-Directors prior to submitting this application. Questions about the data and the project can also be directed to info@edshareproject.org.

You will be notified of the outcome of your application by September 18. Accepted applicants will receive up to $1,500 to support their travel to the conference, and should plan to arrive in Minneapolis in time for a group dinner on Wednesday, November 1; the conference agenda will conclude by 4:00pm on Friday, November 3. If your application is accepted, you will be asked to make a short presentation about your EdSHARe research idea.

EdSHARe expects to make about six awards for travel support to the mini-conference, and will prioritize applications from earlier-career scholars as well as scholars from groups historically underrepresented in academia.