Congratulations to David Kent, MD on his receipt of a $3 million grant from the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke. This is the fourth grant awarded to Dr. Kent to study covert cerebrovascular disease. Covert cerebrovascular disease refers to the presence of cerebrovascular abnormalities that do not present with obvious clinical symptoms.
Covert cerebrovascular disease is associated with an increased risk of future stroke, cognitive decline and dementia. By detecting and treating covert cerebrovascular disease earlier, we may be able to help prevent or delay these outcomes, providing a better prognosis for patients here at Tufts Medical Center and globally. Tufts Medical Center patients benefit from Dr. Kent's care and work leading to groundbreaking bench-to-bedside research that will have an impact on patients around the world.
Dr. David Kent is the Director of the Predictive Analytics and Comparative Effectiveness (PACE) Center at Tufts Medical Center's Institute for Clinical Research and Health Policy Studies (ICRHPS). He will work closely with Dr. Michael Hughes from Tufts University's Department of Computer Science on this award. They will be developing deep learning models to identify covert cerebrovascular disease on routinely obtained neuroimages from MRIs and CT scans and predict future stroke and dementia.
Tufts Medicine is taking major steps to expand clinical research across our system. The first step in this process is creating a single Institutional Review Board, or IRB. The IRB reviews and approves all research proposals and is responsible for ensuring that appropriate steps are taken to protect the rights, safety and welfare of human research participants.
Recently, Tufts Medicine brought MelroseWakefield Hospital and Lowell General Hospital under the same research umbrella as Tufts Medical Center, laying the groundwork to grow research operations at these institutions. We have also expanded access to clinical studies in our community-based hospitals. This will allow us to deliver innovative technologies and treatments to patients in the communities in which they reside, no longer requiring burdensome commutes into Boston.
Improving diversity and representation in clinical research is critical in ensuring our research breakthroughs benefit all populations and reduce health disparities. Expanding research to our stellar community-based institutions will improve access to groundbreaking therapies, improving equity for all patients across Tufts Medicine. We look forward to seeing all that can be accomplished through this exciting collaboration.
