Co-PI Dr. Robert W. Turner II (2015 MCUAAAR Scientist) and Co-Investigator Tam Perry (2013 MCUAAAR Scientist), along with Co-PIs Drs. Monica Rivera-Mindt and Mary Carrillo received a notice of award (NOA) from the National Institute on Aging (NIA) for a 3-year R13 Super Bowl conference grant. The aims of this multidisciplinary conference series are: (1) to identify knowledge gaps and future priorities in cognitive reserve, resilience, aging, and AD/ADRD health disparities life course research among Black males; (2) to cultivate a culturally competent workforce trained and committed to addressing Black male’s brain health, cognitive aging, and AD/ADRD research; and (3) to build a national research volunteer registry of Black Males. They are equally excited to be working closely with the National Football League Alumni Association and the Alzheimer’s Association on this project. In fact, Dr. Carl V. Hill (PRBA Alum) and Chief Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Officer for the Alzheimer’s Association, is Co-Investigator on this grant.

Dr. Robert W. Turner II is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Clinical Research and Leadership, with a secondary appointment in the Department of Neurology, at the George Washington University School of Medicine and Health Sciences. He is a health disparities researcher with ethnographic and mixed methods training. His current National Institute on Aging (NIA) funded K01 award examines psychosocial and neurocognitive risk and protective factors, accelerated cognitive aging & mild traumatic brain injury (MTBI) among former NCAA Division I and former NFL athletes. This line of research encompasses understanding how traumatic injury, as an occupational hazard, hinders daily living and career planning over the life course. These are many of the same concerns faced by military personnel returning from war.

His book manuscript, Not For Long: The life and career of the NFL athlete (Oxford University Press, August 2018) is an ethnographic project that offers a descriptive analysis of the social world of NFL athletes based on the author’s personal experience as a former professional football player, interviews with current and former players, archived resources that discusses the socialization of young athletes, the relationship between the NFL and the NFL Players Association, and how athletes transition to life after football.