Neuroimaging

Clinical Determinants of Outcomes
Drs. Bonilha and Absher (USC) are collaborating with Dr. Milano, Adams and Carroll (MUSC) on identifying clinical determinants of outcomes in the State of SC. They are collaborating with Drs. Miller and Dr. Friedman and leveraging the rich SC Alzheimer’s Disease registry at USC for this project.

Neuroimaging Determinants
Drs. Bonilha and Rorden (USC) are working on neuroimaging determinants of brain integrity and vascular dementia. They are continuing on a long-standing collaboration of their group with neuroimaging at MUSC (notably on advanced MRI and diffusion methods).

BDHSC Biomedical Imaging Core
The Biomedical Imaging Core (BIC) within the Big Data Health Science Center (BDHSC) is being launched and co-led by Drs. Boltin and Hadj-Amar to accelerate interdisciplinary research that integrates imaging, data science, and advanced analytics. The Core’s mission is to advance health science discovery by combining cutting‑edge imaging technologies with methods in AI, machine learning, statistics, and large‑scale data integration. This includes supporting the development of imaging biomarkers, multimodal datasets, translational research pathways, and tools that connect imaging with electronic health records, genomics, and other health data sources.

Public Health, Nursing, Social Work

Caregiver Registry Pilot Project
Drs. Lorie Donelle and Sue Levkoff are collaborating on a pilot project to monitor the health and wellbeing of caregivers for individuals with ADRG. The data collected will be analyzed to determine “pain points” and equity markers of the participating caregivers. This database will be the beginning of a first-of-its-kind caregiver registry.

SC Alzheimer’s Disease Registry Expansion and Analyses
Efforts are underway for a significant expansion of the SC Alzheimer’s Disease Registry and multiple analyses using Registry data alongside other datasets.

Annual Arnold Aging Lecture
The Arnold Aging Lecture is sponsored by the Office for the Study of Aging and the Gerry Sue and Norman J. Arnold Institute on Aging. The lecture’s goal is to promote healthy aging across the lifespan through sharing of current research by topic experts in the field. The lecture is offered to the public and USC students, faculty, and staff without charge.

Molecular Biology

Drs. Daping Fan, Angela Murphy, Jim Fadel, and Peisheng Xu are collaborating on a project focused on the development of a high-throughput 3D neurovascular unit culture system for mechanistic and translational studies on vascular dementia. This research will allow for 1) an understanding of the pathophysiological features associated with vascular dementia including interactions between neurons, vascular cells, and glia and 2) screening of drug candidates that can ameliorate the cell malfunctions that occur in the neurovascular unit.

Engineering

Cognitive Impairment Detection Technology
Drs. Chang Liu and Melissa Moss are leading a project to develop advanced technologies with the goal of the device being able to detect cognitive impairment earlier than current technologies.

Dr. Melissa Moss is leading a project to develop advanced technologies with the goal of the device being able to detect cognitive impairment earlier than current technologies.