Researchers at Emory University have just been awarded a multimillion-dollar grant to further the study of Alzheimer’s disease using advanced brain MR imaging techniques.
The five-year, $3.8 million National Institute on Aging grant will support the collaborative efforts of Emory Goizueta Alzheimer’s Disease Research Center and the Emory Healthy Brain Study. The research is led by Deqiang Qiu, PhD, and colleagues.
Qiu is director of the Computational Neuroimaging and Neuroscience Laboratory, MRI program director at Emory’s Center for Systems Imaging, and an associate professor of radiology.
The research will use a specialized MRI technique that was developed in Qiu’s lab to focus on blood flow. Researchers hope that information obtained using the approach will reveal clues into how cerebrovascular impairment impacts the progression of Alzheimer’s in its early stages.
“I’m extremely excited and honored to start this project to better understand the role of cerebrovascular impairment, an important but under-studied factor in the Alzheimer’s disease process,” Qiu said.
Qiu’s MRI technique simultaneously measures changes in cerebral blood flow and blood oxygenation levels while patients are temporarily exposed to normal oxygen and slightly increased levels of carbon dioxide.
“This will increase the blood flow and oxygenation level in a normal brain, termed cerebrovascular reactivity or CVR,” Qiu explained. “However, CVR is impaired in aging and more severely impaired in Alzheimer’s disease.”
In addition to MRI, the research will also utilize PET imaging to analyze amyloid plaques in the brain, which can manifest in patients with Alzheimer’s and in healthy individuals.
A large cohort of participants varying in age and health will be evaluated for the research, including patients already diagnosed with Alzheimer’s and individuals with incidental amyloid plaques identified on PET scans. It is Qiu’s hope that the findings will lead to effective interventions for Alzheimer’s Disease.
For more information, visit Emory University’s website.
In addition to her background in journalism, Hannah also has patient-facing experience in clinical settings, having spent more than 12 years working as a registered rad tech. She joined Innovate Healthcare in 2021 and has since put her unique expertise to use in her editorial role with Health Imaging.