Priya Palta, PhD, MHS
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Priya Palta received her PhD and MHS in epidemiology from the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health and completed an NHLBI T32 postdoctoral fellowship in cardiovascular disease epidemiology at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. She is formally trained as a chronic disease and aging epidemiologist with a multidisciplinary research portfolio in the epidemiology of cardiovascular disease and aging, specifically, cardiovascular risk factors and modifiers of cognitive decline and dementia.
Her early work evaluated the relationship between cognition and diabetes among older adults. More recently, she has extended this to examine associations between lifecourse sociodemographic and cardiovascular health metrics and subclinical measures of cardiovascular disease with cognitive and physical function outcomes. Her current work focuses on the role of modifiable risk factors, such as physical activity, on cognition, physical function and quality of life metrics. She has extensive experience working with several population-based studies, including, the Atherosclerosis Risk in Communities Study, National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey, and Hispanic Community Health Study/Study of Latinos. She is currently funded through a K99/R00 Pathway to Independence Award from the National Institute on Aging which aims to quantify the role of regular physical activity in reducing age-related impairment in cognitive functioning and Alzheimer’s disease risk.
Select Publications
Palta P, Sharrett AR, Deal JA, Evenson KR, Gabriel KP, Folsom AR, Gross AL, Windham BG, Knopman D, Mosley TH, Heiss G. Leisure-time Physical Activity Sustained Since Mid-Life and Preservation of Cognitive Function: the Atherosclerosis Risk in Communities (ARIC) Study Cohort. In Press at Alzheimer’s & Dementia, September 2018.
Palta P, Chen H, Deal JA, Sharrett AR, Gross AL, Knopman D, Griswold M, Heiss G, Mosley TH. Olfactory function and neurocognitive outcomes in old age: the Atherosclerosis Risk in Communities Neurocognitive Study (ARIC-NCS). Alzheimers Dement. 2018 Aug;14(8):1015-1021. PMCID: PMC6097922
Palta P, Carlson MC, Crum RM, Colantuoni E, Sharrett AR, Yasar S, Nahin RL, DeKosky ST, Snitz B, Lopez O, Williamson JD, Furbeg CD, Rapp SR, Golden SH. Diabetes and cognitive decline in older adults: the Ginkgo Evaluation of Memory Study. J Gerontol A Biol Sci Med Sci. 2017 Dec 12;73(1):123-130. PMCID: PMC5861864
Palta P, Huang ES, Kalyani RR, Golden SH, Yeh HC. Hemoglobin A1c and Mortality in Older Adults with and Without Diabetes: Results from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Surveys (1988- 2011). Diabetes Care. 2017 Apr;40(4):453-460. PMCID: PMC5864101
Meyer ML, Palta P, Tanaka H, Deal JA, Wright J, Knopman DS, Griswold ME, Mosley TH, Heiss G. Association of central arterial stiffness and pressure pulsatility with mild cognitive impairment and dementia: The Atherosclerosis Risk in Communities Study—Neurocognitive Study (ARIC-NCS). J Alzheimers Dis. 2017;57(1):195.204. PMCID: PMC5450915
Palta P, McMurray RG, Gouskova NA, Sotres-Alvarez D, Davis SM, Carnethon M, Castaneda SF, Gellman MD, Hankinson AL, Isasi CR, Schneiderman N, Talavera GA, Evenson KR. Self-reported and accelerometer-measured physical activity by body mass index in US Hispanic/Latino adults: HCHS/SOL. Prev Med Rep. 2015 Sep;2:824-828. PMCID: PMC4721348
Palta P, Xue Q, Deal JA, Fried LP, Walston JD, Carlson MC. Interleukin-6 and c-reactive protein Levels and 9-Year cognitive decline in community-dwelling older women: the Women’s Health and Aging Study II. J Gerontol A Biol Sci Med Sci. 2015 Jul;70(7):873-8. PMCID: PMC448168
Palta P, Golden SH, Teresi JA, Palmas W, Weinstock RS, Shea S, Manly JJ, Luchsinger JA. Mild cognitive dysfunction does not affect diabetes mellitus control in minority elderly adults. J Am Geriatr Soc 2014 Dec; 62(12):2363-8. PMCID: PMC4288580