Astrid M. Suchy-Dicey, PhD, Associate Professor, Clinical Neuroscience and Director of the Brain Aging Study at HRMI is an epidemiologist dedicated to unraveling health disparities in neurodegenerative disease.

Her research focuses on enhancing the methodology for analyzing and interpreting data related to imaging, biomarkers, cognitive testing, and social determinants pertaining to Alzheimer’s and vascular diseases, especially in American Indians, Alaska Natives, and other marginalized populations. She is committed to understanding risk and resilience factors as she leads multiple large, landmark population-based studies. Dr. Suchy-Dicey also holds external leadership positions in research methods and mentoring centers at Washington State University (WSU), the University of Washington (UW), and the University of Miami.

At the University of Washington Alzheimer’s Disease Research Center (UW ADRC), Dr. Suchy-Dicey is Co-lead of the Data Management and Statistics Core and the 2021-2022 UW ADRC Development Project Leader of the project: Plasma phosphorylated tau protein and Alzheimer’s disease in American Indians. Suchy-Dicey was awarded three current R01 grants for her continued research and novel data collection methods as part of the Strong Heart Study, including - Resilience, cultural alignment, social support, and brain aging; Psychological factors, community, and brain aging in American Indians; Bilingualism as a protective factor of Alzheimer’s disease and related dementias (ADRD) in American Indian adults.

Dr. Suchy-Dicey earned her PhD in epidemiology at the University of Washington, where she also earned her Master of Science, with dual concentrations in Public Health Genetics and Quantitative Methods. There she trained under top methodologists, providing the foundation for her expertise and contributions to the field.    

Her research interests include: Epidemiology of chronic diseases related to aging; Complex systems of balance in human physiology; Health disparities in U.S. minority populations.