{"id":86928,"date":"2020-08-02T19:10:58","date_gmt":"2020-08-02T23:10:58","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.bumc.bu.edu\/busm\/?p=86928"},"modified":"2020-08-03T11:34:41","modified_gmt":"2020-08-03T15:34:41","slug":"rhoda-au-receives-2-8m-award-from-aha-bill-gates","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.bumc.bu.edu\/camed\/2020\/08\/02\/rhoda-au-receives-2-8m-award-from-aha-bill-gates\/","title":{"rendered":"Rhoda Au Receives $2.8M Award from AHA, Bill Gates"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"The American Heart Association \u2014 the world\u2019s leading voluntary organization dedicated to a world of longer, healthier lives \u2014 and global philanthropist and technology visionary Bill Gates, have committed to advancing the scientific evidence base related to brain health and dementia by funding a $3.3 million health technology research joint initiative. The project will specifically fund a new brain health and dementia technology research center at Boston University. Additionally, it will support the global exchange of research data to help scientists around the world collectively work in accelerating new discoveries related to heart and brain health, including the early detection and treatment of Alzheimer\u2019s disease and related dementias.<\/p>\n

\u201cCardiovascular risks are closely associated with cognitive impairment and dementia, so as we strive to reduce these risks, it stands to reason that what\u2019s good for the heart is good for the brain. This is encouraging as it means it may be possible to maintain brain health and to prevent dementia in later life,\u201d said Mitch Elkind, MD, MS, FAHA, FAAN, president of the American Heart Association and professor of neurology and epidemiology at Columbia University in New York City. \u201cWe are excited to enter this collaboration with Bill Gates as we look to harness the momentum of increasingly sophisticated, yet user-friendly technology that can lead to breakthrough solutions to the mysteries of the heart and brain connection, furthering our commitment to advancing the science of brain health.\u201d<\/p>\n

The new initiative is part of the Association\u2019s Strategically Focused Research Network on Health Technologies and Innovation, first launched with four centers in April<\/a>. A multidisciplinary team of researchers at Boston University has been selected to establish the fifth research site, a brain health and dementia technology research center, funded by a $2.8 million grant from Bill Gates and the American Heart Association.<\/p>\n

Led by Rhoda Au, PhD, a professor of anatomy and neurobiology, the new team will focus their work on the connections of heart and brain health, specifically in the areas of dementia and Alzheimer\u2019s disease. They will work on new technology to better identify and track early health behaviors that can affect brain health and lead to chronic diseases, use advanced computational and artificial intelligence analytics to more specifically determine who is at risk for those diseases and ultimately find ways to prevent the behaviors or triggers that lead to them. One major aim is to use passive data-collection technology, requiring minimal action on the part of the participant, to be more sustainable over time. This can be especially beneficial in historically excluded populations that often don\u2019t have the means for costly wearable health technology.<\/p>\n

In addition to the new research center, the joint initiative will also provide $500,000 to support efforts of all five centers in a collaborative project to enhance how research data is shared through interoperable technology platforms, advances that could ultimately streamline and fast-track solutions to patient care and treatment.<\/p>\n

Findings from this joint research project will be added to the database of Alzheimer\u2019s Research UK\u2019s Early Detection of Neurodegeneration<\/a> (EDoN). Through this global initiative, scientists from around the world are collecting, sharing and analyzing clinical and digital health data to detect diseases like Alzheimer\u2019s in the brain years before the symptoms of dementia start. More than 5.7 million Americans currently live with Alzheimer\u2019s, one of the most common forms of dementia, and that number is expected to nearly triple by 2050.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe implications of this collaboration not only involve sharing of vital data, reducing unnecessary time and replication in research for earlier detection of neurodegenerative diseases, but also allow us to take a closer look at the associations between these diseases and cardiovascular diseases.\u201d said Rafael C. Jiminez, PhD, head of Research Informatics at Alzheimer\u2019s Research UK. \u201cWe believe health technology offers new windows into earlier detection and eventual prevention of dementia. We welcome the opportunity to collaborate with the additional network of researchers in the American Heart Association\u2019s program to help accelerate data sharing and scientific discovery.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cBeing part of the EDoN collaborative is an incredible step in ensuring the American Heart Association can have a global impact on longer, healthier lives for all,\u201d said Dr. Elkind, who is also attending neurologist at Columbia University Irving Medical Center of the New York-Presbyterian Hospital.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The four-year project focuses on the connections of heart and brain health, specifically in the areas of dementia and Alzheimer\u2019s disease.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":903,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[146,91,143,90],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bumc.bu.edu\/camed\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/86928"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bumc.bu.edu\/camed\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bumc.bu.edu\/camed\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bumc.bu.edu\/camed\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/903"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bumc.bu.edu\/camed\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=86928"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.bumc.bu.edu\/camed\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/86928\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":86929,"href":"https:\/\/www.bumc.bu.edu\/camed\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/86928\/revisions\/86929"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bumc.bu.edu\/camed\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=86928"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bumc.bu.edu\/camed\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=86928"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bumc.bu.edu\/camed\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=86928"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}