UMass Lowell researcher wins $2.7 million grant for Alzheimer’s research

LOWELL, Mass. – The National Institutes of Health has awarded $2.7 million to a UMass Lowell researcher studying how Alzheimer’s disease evolves.

Funded by the NIH’s National Institute on Aging, Electrical and Computer Engineering Associate Prof. Joyita Dutta aims to develop models that predict the progression of tau tangles in the brain. While tau is an important protein that helps stabilize the brain’s nerve cells, in cases of Alzheimer’s, an abnormal form of tau builds ups inside the nerve cells and evolves into tangles. Along with amyloid plaques, which are abnormal proteins that build up between the nerve cells, tau tangles are primary markers for Alzheimer’s disease.

Dutta directs UMass Lowell’s Biomedical Imaging and Data Science Laboratory, which is developing novel image- and data-processing tools that merge traditional signal processing with the emerging field of data science.

For the Alzheimer’s study, Dutta, who is the sole researcher for the five-year grant, will look at the disease from a network perspective, viewing the interconnections between the regions of the brain.

She will use machine learning and artificial intelligence (AI) tools to build models from existing patient imaging data that is available from two sources: the Harvard Aging Brain Study and the Alzheimer’s Disease Neuroimaging Initiative. The AI tools will be applied to tau measures obtained from positron emission tomography (PET) scans and structural connectivity information obtained from diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) scans to make personalized predictions of future tau buildup.

“Our approach is data driven,” she said. “There are a lot of cool AI tools we can use that we didn’t have five to 10 years back.”

While the causes of Alzheimer’s are not fully understood, the number of people affected by the disease continues to grow. According to the Centers for Disease Control, in 2020, as many as 5.8 million Americans were living with Alzheimer’s. That number is projected to rise to 14 million by 2060. There is currently no known cure for the disease, but research indicates that early diagnosis is key to treating it.

“Scientists know that people with Alzheimer’s experience latent changes in the brain before clinical signs of the disease like memory loss manifest,” Dutta said. Imaging can help document changes in the brain and be used to help predict future risks for cognitive decline.

“Alzheimer’s disease has a slow progression that needs to be tracked over time,” she said.

Dutta holds faculty appointments at Harvard Medical School and Massachusetts General Hospital. The grant was awarded to her through Mass General. UMass Lowell, as a subcontractor, will receive $1.76 million over the lifespan of the project.

Dutta has won previous NIH funding for Alzheimer’s research that focused on imaging, as well as sleep metrics as a tool for diagnosing the disease.

The latest research project will offer hands-on experience to several graduate students in the disciplines of electrical and computer engineering, biomedical engineering and physics. It will also support a full-time postdoctoral scholar.

“It will be a great opportunity for training the next generation of Alzheimer’s researchers,” she said.

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