Portable brain MRI for Alzheimer's and related dementias in rural South Africa
Enhancing Alzheimer's-related research in rural South Africa with portable MRI
This project brings portable brain MRI to adults in rural South Africa to look for brain shrinkage and blood vessel changes linked to Alzheimer's and related dementias.
Quick facts
| Grant type | NIH-funded research |
|---|---|
| Study type | NIH-funded research |
| Funding institution | Columbia University Health Sciences NIH-funded |
| Lab location | 1 site (New York, United States) |
| Project ID | NIH-11269186 on NIH RePORTER |
What this research studies
From where I live, researchers will bring a small, low-field MRI machine to do brain scans as part of a larger community study of memory and thinking problems. The team will combine these images with blood or fluid markers and memory tests already collected in the population. Local staff will be trained to run the scans and handle the data so imaging can be done in villages without big hospital equipment. The work aims to make brain imaging practical in low-resource settings and help researchers understand dementia in this region.
Who could benefit from this research
Good fit: Ideal participants are adults living in the rural South African communities included in the population study, especially older adults or those with memory or thinking concerns.
Not a fit: People who do not live in the study region, those who cannot undergo MRI (for example due to certain implanted medical devices), or those without interest in research are unlikely to benefit directly from this project.
Why it matters
Potential benefit: If successful, this could improve detection and understanding of brain changes related to dementia in rural communities and help guide better diagnosis and care locally.
How similar studies have performed: Portable low-field MRI has shown promise in early pilot work, but using it at population scale in rural sub-Saharan Africa is a new and relatively untested application.
Where this research is happening
New York, United States
- Columbia University Health Sciences — New York, United States (Active)
Researchers
- Principal investigator: Brickman, Adam M — Columbia University Health Sciences
- Study coordinator: Brickman, Adam M
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.