Connecting dementia resources across East Africa
Bridging Research Infrastructure for Dementia Gaps in East Africa (BRIDGE-AFRICA)
This project is building shared tools and a community program to find and follow people at risk for Alzheimer's and related dementias in Kenya and Ethiopia.
Quick facts
| Grant type | NIH-funded research |
|---|---|
| Study type | NIH-funded research |
| Funding institution | University of California, San Francisco NIH-funded |
| Lab location | 1 site (San Francisco, United States) |
| Project ID | NIH-11311840 on NIH RePORTER |
What this research studies
From a patient's point of view, the team will set up common ways to measure memory and thinking across communities in two East African countries so results mean the same thing everywhere. They will train local outreach teams and Atlantic Fellows to explain the work, enroll people, and carry out culturally suitable visits. During the first phase they will finalize the testing battery and show it can work in community-dwelling older adults, and later they will expand to a ready-to-use cohort for future interventions. The goal is to make it easier for local clinics and researchers to find people at risk and link them to future prevention or treatment studies.
Who could benefit from this research
Good fit: Ideal candidates are community-dwelling older adults at risk for Alzheimer’s disease or related dementias who live in the participating sites in Kenya or Ethiopia and can take part in local visits and cognitive testing.
Not a fit: People who live outside the participating East African communities or those with advanced dementia who cannot complete community-based visits are unlikely to receive direct benefit from this project.
Why it matters
Potential benefit: If successful, this work could lead to earlier and more culturally appropriate detection of dementia risk and improve access to future clinical trials and services in East Africa.
How similar studies have performed: Previous training programs and local cognitive research in Africa have shown feasibility, but creating a harmonized, intervention-ready multi-country cohort in East Africa is a newer and less-tested approach.
Where this research is happening
San Francisco, United States
- University of California, San Francisco — San Francisco, United States (Active)
Researchers
- Principal investigator: Valcour, Victor — University of California, San Francisco
- Study coordinator: Valcour, Victor
About this research
- This is an active NIH-funded research project — typically early-stage science, not a clinical trial accepting patient enrollment.
- Some NIH-funded labs run parallel clinical studies or seek volunteers for related work. To check, contact the principal investigator or institution listed above.
- For full project details, budget, and progress reports, visit the official NIH RePORTER page below.