Post-stroke cognitive impairment (PSCI) is a common yet often underrecognized complication that affects stroke survivors, potentially hindering stroke recovery and increasing the risk of recurrent strokes.
"There are gaps in understanding how cerebral vascular contributions to dementia interact with pre-existing neurodegenerative conditions and how the availability of practical tools aids clinicians in predicting PSCI," explains Xiao Hu, PhD, a professor at the Emory University Nell Hodgson Woodruff School of Nursing.
Download imageXiao Hu
To address these gaps, the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NINDS) has awarded a $2.3 million R01 grant to Hu to develop novel artificial intelligence (AI) algorithms that predict post-stroke cognitive impairment and characterize vascular contributions. The grant will fund the first three years of the five-year study.
The algorithms will process extensive, ethnically diverse neuroimaging and electronic health record datasets to predict PSCI. The study will also assess the added benefits of incorporating new physiological and biological metrics relating to cerebrovascular and neurodegenerative factors.
Hu, project contact principal investigator (PI), says that this pioneering research could transform clinical practice, leading to improvements in how stroke survivors are managed. By predicting PSCI more accurately, health care providers can tailor recovery and prevention strategies to each patient's needs.
In addition to Hu, the interdisciplinary research team working on the grant includes Emory University faculty members Fadi Nahab and Deqiang Qiu as multiple PIs, and Michael Borich, Alex Fedorov, Melinda K. Higgins, Jessica Saurman, Nicholas T. Seyfried, and Carl Yang from Emory University as well as Sandra A. Billinger from the University of Kansas as co-investigators.
This research is supported by the NINDS of the National Institutes of Health under award number RF1NS139325. The content is solely the responsibility of the authors and does not necessarily represent the official views of the National Institutes of Health.
About the Nell Hodgson Woodruff School of Nursing
As one of the nation's top nursing schools, the Nell Hodgson Woodruff School of Nursing at Emory University is committed to educating visionary nurse leaders and scholars. Home to the No. 1 master's, No. 3 BSN and No. 6 DNP programs nationwide, the school offers undergraduate, master's, doctoral and non-degree programs, bringing together cutting-edge resources, distinguished faculty, top clinical experiences and access to leading health care partners to shape the future of nursing and impact the world's health and well-being. Learn more at nursing.emory.edu.
