A team of researchers are to advance research on an innovative approach to slowing age-related cognitive decline in women with a major funding boost.
According to the university, USC will receive the US$3.4m in funding over two years through the Sprint for Women’s Health spark track for early-stage research efforts.
Young-Kwon Hong, chief of the division of basic science research in the department of surgery at the Keck School of Medicine of USC, and his team are working on slowing age-related cognitive decline in women by helping the brain’s lymphatic system clear more waste.
“With their longer lifespans, ageing women have a higher susceptibility to dementia and neurodegenerative disorders,” explained Hong.
“Two out of every three patients diagnosed with cognitive decline are women.”
Hong and his team have already discovered a drug that may delay the onset of Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s disease by improving the performance of the brain’s lymphatic system. They believe that by clearing waste buildup in the brain, they can slow the progress of cognitive decline.
The award is from the Advanced Research Projects Agency for Health (ARPA-H), an agency withing the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services that funds research that tackles tough health problems.
The grant is part of ARPA-H’s Sprint for Women’s Health initiative to address critical unmet challenges in women’s health, champion transformative innovations, and tackle health conditions that uniquely or disproportionately affect women.
Their Sprint for Women’s Health project will test the combination of that drug with focused ultrasound treatment to accelerate the removal of waste.
“Anyone with a loved one in cognitive decline knows how devastating—and terrifying—it can be for the patient and for everyone around them. I believe that combining targeted ultrasound therapy with our drug therapy may offer hope to thousands of people,” said Hong.
“We may even be able to refine the treatment to a simple at-home process. This has an enormous potential to help people keep their dignity and their connection to loved ones.”
USC will work with an ARPA-H programme manager and the Investor Catalyst Hub over two years to develop their proposed solution, receiving milestone-based payments aligned to research activities and performance objectives.