PBHI News

BU-Led Framingham Heart Study Brain Aging Program Receives $31.5M Funding Renewal

July 2026

The Boston University-led Framingham Heart Study Brain Aging Program received a five-year, $31.5M renewal from the National Institute on Aging, following an initial $29M grant. The funding will support research on vascular and inflammatory contributors to Alzheimer’s, risk and resilience, and genetic vulnerabilities, along with a mentorship program for early-career researchers and a curated, more accessible dataset for outside scientists. By drawing on decades of data from the study’s roughly 15,000 participants, the team hopes to identify early biomarkers

Rhoda Au Speaks at the National Academies

March 2026

Rhoda Au discusses the Framingham Heart Study Brain Aging Program and Digital Biomarkers.

Watch the presentation below:

Digital voice as a promising biomarker in AD 

March 2026

Rhoda Au identifies digital voice as a leading candidate biomarker for Alzheimer’s disease. Speech data is easy to collect, widely accessible, and reflects cognitive, motor, and emotional function, making it a rich, scalable assessment tool. She spoke at AD/PD™ 2026 in Copenhagen, Denmark.

Watch her speak below:

The role of AI in advancing precision brain health and improving care in AD and PD

March 2026

Rhoda Au discusses AI’s potential to change how Alzheimer’s disease and Parkinson’s disease are managed, particularly its capacity to synthesize multidimensional data and tailor diagnosis and treatment to the individual.

Watch her speak below:

Dr. Rhoda Au Co-Authors Landmark Study on AI and Multi-Modal Digital Biomarkers for Alzheimer’s Detection

February 2026

A January 2026 study co-authored by Rhoda Au finds that AI analysis of voice recordings and eye scans can detect Alzheimer’s-related cognitive changes earlier and more precisely than traditional paper-based testing. Speech looks especially promising, and combining it with other signals from everyday smartphones could enable scalable early detection without clinic visits.

Study finds consumer devices can be used to assess brain health

March 2025

A Nature Medicine study of more than 23,000 U.S. adults found that consumer devices like the iPhone and Apple Watch can reliably and validly assess cognitive health remotely, with over 90% of participants sticking to the protocol for at least a year. The researchers, including Rhoda Au, say tracking digital health metrics this way could eventually flag people on a path of cognitive decline early enough to prompt follow-up and intervention.