Huntington Medical Research Institute

PASADENA, Calif., May 15, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Huntington Medical Research Institutes (HMRI), a pioneer in scientific research dedicated to unraveling diseases of the heart and brain, gains new insights into dementia among American Indians for the first time through a landmark study led by renowned epidemiologist Astrid Suchy-Dicey, PhD, Associate Professor, and Scientific Director, Clinical and Translational Neurosciences. Continue Reading "Overall, our findings emphasize the importance of inclusive Alzheimer's disease and dementia research, representing all populations." Post this Renowned epidemiologist Astrid Suchy-Dicey, PhD, Associate Professor, and Scientific Director, Clinical and Translational Neurosciences, HMRI. This is the first large, prospective, population-based study to estimate the prevalence of vascular and Alzheimer's dementias in American Indians, using a gold-standard method of cognitive determination consistent with protocols used by National Alzheimer's Coordinating Center Alzheimer's Disease Research Centers and as recommended by National Institute on Aging and Alzheimer's Association. This report, "Epidemiology and prevalence of dementia and Alzheimer's disease in American Indians: data from the Strong Heart Study," was published today in Alzheimer's and Dementia: The Journal of the Alzheimer's Association. Until recently, the epidemiology of Alzheimer's disease and related dementias among American Indians and other Indigenous peoples has been critically underrepresented in mainstream dementia research. Disparities in socioeconomics, historical, and sociological factors increase risk, resulting in disparate prevalence and incidence of disease. American Indians endure a high prevalence of contributing comorbidities, such as hypertension, diabetes, and depression, exacerbated by relatively poorer access to socioeconomic resources. Suchy-Dicey cautions, "interpretation of race-based differences [in health disparities research] should be done with caution; such differences probably have more to do with social determinants than with biological differences." Previous data using administrative and health records estimated dementia prevalence in American Indians and Alaska Natives as similar to that of non-Hispanic Whites. However, this prospectively conducted, population-based study detected higher prevalence -- with approximately half of American Indians over age 65 affected by some cognitive impairment, and approximately 10% with dementia. These epidemiologic findings are thought to be an improvement on prior research because they are not limited by underreporting of cases in the clinical context. Records-based research may be prone to data or information bias, due to inadequate or late care, poor specialty access in rural regions, and poor cultural sensitivity in some contexts. It is estimated that up to 50% of those with dementia may be missing notations in their medical records, further increasing disparities for those who experience barriers to care, and compounding problems for research on racial-ethnic disparities using such data. Thus, prior studies that are not population-based, with prospectively collected, objective, and sensitive methods for case identification may represent underestimates of true prevalence and incidence in these populations. So far, the data in this report is the closest to gold-standard epidemiologic estimates of dementia prevalence for American Indians. Additionally, this study reported novel findings that vascular brain injury was equally important to Alzheimer's disease in etiology, both as independent contributors but also with substantive overlap between them. This suggests a continued need for vascular prevention in this population, which may be lagging behind the majority population in reduction and prevention of cardiovascular disease (CVD) and cerebrovascular disease (CBVD). Future studies will investigate whether primary prevention of vascular disease could result in decreased prevalence and incidence of dementia in this population. Finally, traumatic head injury was found to be a significant contributor among "other" impairments, perhaps representing acute cognitive changes. These findings echo prior research on blood biomarker findings, which detected higher prevalence of markers for neuronal remodeling in this population than expected. More follow-up is needed, but this may be an important factor to consider in future dementia research, especially in American Indians and other minoritized groups. "Overall, our findings emphasize the importance of inclusive Alzheimer's disease and dementia research, representing all populations, and especially with data gathering that is sensitive and knowledgeable to that particular group," said Suchy-Dicey. "We hope these findings will be useful to clinicians and researchers, especially those interested in health disparities." Suchy-Dicey collaborated with University of Washington School of Medicine colleagues Kimiko Domoto-Reilly, MD, Suman Jayadev, MD, Thomas J Grabowski, MD, and Kristoffer Rhodas, PhD, and with Dedra S. Buchwald, MD and Lonnie Nelson, PhD, of Washington State University. Data and participants are from the Strong Heart Study, and part of a growing body of work on Alzheimer's disease and vascular dementias in this otherwise critically-understudied population. This study has been funded in whole or in part with federal funds from the National Institutes of Health, including the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute and National Institute on Aging, including R01HL093086 (Buchwald), P50AG005136 (Grabowski), K01AG057821 (Suchy-Dicey). More information: Astrid M. Suchy-Dicey et al, Epidemiology and prevalence of dementia and Alzheimer's disease in American Indians: data from the Strong Heart Study, Alzheimer's and Dementia: The Journal of the Alzheimer's Association (2024). About HMRI Based in Pasadena, California, Huntington Medical Research Institutes (HMRI) is a pioneer in scientific research with a 70-year track record of groundbreaking discoveries that have changed the world – from seatbelts to lifesaving diagnostic technology like the MRI. Today, HRMI is laser-focused on biomedical research that investigates diseases of the heart and brain, and it is committed to inspiring and educating the next generation of scientists. SOURCE Huntington Medical Research Institutes

None Welcome to this week's Chutes & Ladders, our roundup of hirings, firings and retirings throughout the industry. Please submit the good news—or the bad—from your shop, and we will feature it here at the end of each week. VillageMD­ VillageMD has named three leaders to its patient-facing services lines of Summit Health, CityMD and Village Medical. Rishi Sikka, M.D., will become president of Village Medical; Becky Levy will be promoted to president of Summit Health and Startling Physicians; and Dan Frogel, M.D., will hold a dual role of president of CityMD and chief clinical officer. Levy’s role is newly created, and he will provide executive leadership and operational direction to Summit Health. He will also help the company search for a new chief legal officer, a division he will manage in the interim. Sikka served as president of system enterprises for Sutter Health from 2017-22 and spent six years at Advocate Health Care. Levy started at VillageMD as a chief legal officer in January after working for 11 years at Summit Health. Trinity Health Ray Anderson, Ph.D., has been named executive vice president and chief strategy officer at Trinity Health, a faith-based health care system with nearly 27,000 physicians and the second largest PACE program in the country. Anderson will be responsible for driving strategic planning, business development, partnerships and mergers and acquisitions for the business, according to a press release. He previously was senior vice president and chief strategy officer of Ascension Texas, a 15-hospital integrated health system in central Texas. Anderson started his career with the National Cancer Institute and then Pfizer before transitioning into management consulting with PwC. HIMSS Two new executives are joining the Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society, a nonprofit global adviser on health innovation and public policy to advise leaders. The organization has hired Elizabeth Slater Jasper as general counsel and Anne Tuzik as CFO. Jasper will work to translate legal and regulatory matters into best practice, while Tuzik will lead the finance team, according to a press release. Tuzik previously worked in various finance roles at CRBE and as CFO for eSutures.com. Jasper has spent 14 years as the chief legal officer, general counsel and corporate secretary for the National Service Office for Nurse-Family Partnership and Child First. > CVS Health announced Monday that CFO Shawn Guertin will take a leave of absence due to "unforeseen family health reasons." Tom Cowhey, senior vice president of corporate finance, will step in as interim CFO, and Oak Street Health CEO Mike Pykosz will become interim president of health services. > Headspace, a digital mental health company, has promoted Nicolette Turney from senior vice president of finance to CFO after she played a key role in the company’s $3 billion merger with Ginger in 2021, according to a release. > Hims & Hers, a health and wellness platform, has appointed former Aurora, Tesla, Square and Nike executive Khobi Brooklyn as chief communications officer. > Net Health, a specialized software solutions company for restorative care providers, has selected Ron Books as CEO. > Macon Community Hospital in Lafayette, Tennessee, has announced that CEO Thomas Kidd is retiring, effective Jan. 8. > Centre for Neuro Skills, a traumatic brain injury and stroke rehabilitation services clinic in Houston, has announced Natasha Rose, M.D., will be the clinic’s next medical director. > Eskenazi Health, a healthcare provider in central Indiana, has tapped Randall Grout, M.D., as chief health informatics officer. > Personalis, an advanced genomic testing for precision oncology company, has tapped Deepshikha Bhandari as senior vice president, regulatory, quality and clinical compliance. > Spatially Health, a health equity platform focused on addressing social determinants of health, has appointed the Florida Association of ACOs CEO Nicole Bradberry to its board of directors. > Tennova Healthcare – Cleveland, an acute care facility based in Tennessee, has named David Solomon as CFO. > Piedmont Newton Hospital in Covington, Georgia, has announced that Lori Morris is the hospital’s newest CFO. Piedmont Augusta in Augusta, Georgia, named Brent Robinson as COO. > Phoenix Children’s, a pediatric health system, has named Tanya Kalin, M.D., to its research team at Phoenix Children’s Research Institute at the University of Arizona College of Medicine – Phoenix, where she will work on cancer treatments for children. > Huntington Medical Research Institutes, a medical research organization, has hired Astrid Suchy-Dicey to join the clinical neuroscience department.

None Welcome to this week's Chutes & Ladders, our roundup of hirings, firings and retirings throughout the industry. Please submit the good news—or the bad—from your shop, and we will feature it here at the end of each week. Kaiser Permanente Narayanan “Nari” Gopala has been promoted to chief digital officer for Kaiser Foundation Health Plan and Hospitals. Gopala previously held the position of vice president of capability and platform engineering for the health system. He also previously held IT leadership positions at Amazon Web Service, Sony Online Entertainment and Daybreak Gaming. He has racked up over 25 years leading global digital platforms. At Kaiser, Gopala will spearhead cross-functional teams to transform digital touchpoints for the health system’s 12.6 million members. Kaiser announced this week that it would be acquiring Geisinger Health with the goal of creating a new multisystem value-based care organization dubbed Risant. If the merger is completed as planned, President and CEO of Geisinger Health Jaewon Ryu, M.D., will transition to CEO of Risant. Prat Vemana most recently held the position before leaving to take the role of chief digital and product officer at Target. Gopala will report to Chief Information and Technology Officer Diane Comer with joint accountability to Kaiser Chair and CEO Greg Adams. Allina Dominica Tallarico has accepted the position of executive vice president and chief operations officer of Allina Health. Tallarico will be responsible for implementing the health system’s strategic plans into daily operations while seeking to accelerate the integration of innovative care models. For the past 18 years, she has served in various roles within Advocate Health. Most recently, she held the position of executive vice president of the health system’s Illinois market. Advocate’s Illinois market is comprised of nine hospitals, a children’s hospital, 400 ambulatory sites of care and medical group clinics, 6,300 physicians of which nearly 1,800 are employed and $7 billion in revenues. During her time in the company, she helped grow the company’s acute and ambulatory network, population health capabilities and clinical service lines. Tallarico also established partnerships with One Medical, Surgical Care Affiliates and MD Anderson. Butterfly Network Effective immediately, Joseph DeVivo has taken the helm at Butterfly Network as president and chief executive officer. The digital health company developed a hand-held, whole-body ultrasound. DeVivo spent time at telehealth and virtual healthcare company Teladoc Health where he worked as president of hospitals and health systems. He previously held the position of CEO and director at InTouch Health. While at InTouch, DeVivo grew top-line revenue by a compound annual growth rate of 30% over four years while overseeing the sale of the business to Teladoc Health for $1.1 billion. DeVivo comes to Butterfly by way of the AI-guided ultrasound platform Caption Health where he worked as executive chairman of the board of directors. He was instrumental in the sale of the company to GE HealthCare. Butterfly founder and chairman of the company’s board of directors Jonathan Rothberg, Ph.D., held the position of interim CEO for several months after previous CEO Todd Fruchterman, M.D., Ph.D., departed. Optum Optum tapped Genevieve Morris as its new vice president of interoperability strategy for medical network group. Morris previously filled the role of senior director of interoperability strategy at health tech company Change Healthcare. At Optum, she will work to bridge the gap between clinical and administrative interoperability as the buzzword gains a foothold in large-scale organizational planning throughout healthcare. In the previous few months, Optum has announced several other shifts in its leadership team. In February, the company’s chief information officer Phil McKoy took on the role of new enterprise lead. He will be responsible for both enterprise shared services and enterprise integration services. Caitlin Zulla was also promoted to chief executive officer of Optum Health's east region. Zulla will be responsible for primary, specialty, surgical and home-based care and behavioral health services across the Northeast quadrant of the U.S. Optum, a UnitedHealth Group subsidiary, quietly acquired Refresh Mental Health in March without a public announcement. > Duke Regional Hospital's Chief Financial Officer Jonathan Hoy, Chief Nursing Officer Vicky Orto and Chief Operating Officer Mitch Babb have been asked to step down from their roles after an assessment of the hospital's performance over the past year. > Adventist Health has named Jennifer Stemmler as its new chief information officer. > Sutter Health has named Dominic Nakis the system's interim chief financial officer as it searches for a permanent CFO over the next 12 to 18 months. > Corewell Health welcomes Darryl Elmouchi as chief operations officer and Alejandro Quiroga as president of Corewell Health West. > Artera, a SaaS digital health leader in patient communications, hired Karri Alexion-Tiernan as vice president of product marketing, Joanne Chen as VP of data and Mark Thomson as VP of customer success. > Gameto, a female reproductive biotech company, appointed Teri Loxam as its first chief financial officer. > Reperio Health, a provider of instant at-home health screenings, announced Naomi Levinthal as chief growth officer. > Northwestern Medicine named Craig Johnson as chief operating officer. > Quantum-Si unveiled Katherine Atkinson as senior vice president of demand generation and corporate brand as well as Alex Hutcheson as SVP of sales and service, Christine Nishiyama as vice president of supply chain and reagent manufacturing and John Vieceli as VP of algorithms and data science. > Allogene tapped Timothy Moore as chief technical officer. > Crouse Health named David Landsberg, M.D., as chief medical officer. > Wilson Sonsini added Andrea Linna to the firm’s regulatory department as a partner in the digital health industry group and FDA regulatory, healthcare and consumer products practice. > Huntington Medical Research Institutes added two new members to its board of directors: Edward Mena, M.D., and Rick Wentzel. > Vektor Medical picked Marlou Janssen and Craig McPherson, M.D., to join Vektor’s advisory board. > Papa welcomed Stephanie Tilenius as an independent board member.