Current Projects

Dementia Risk Assessment Software: The Dementia Risk Assessment (DRA) software is a unique program that merges medicine and technology into a tangible product that can be used as a health education tool.

Objectives:

1. Use basic demographic and medical history information to provide an assessment for individuals at risk of developing dementia (Demographic information includes: age, sex, medical health information, family medical history, weight, height, ethnicity)
2. The program will also provide information on preventative measures based on current scientific and medical information
3. Tutorial on Dementia (This tutorial will highlight the basic clinical features of dementia, how dementia affects the brain, subtypes of dementia, what puts an individual at risk for developing dementia).
4. Building a database of potential participants who may want to participate in future clinical research studies.

Transitory Care Program: In an effort to provide financial support to those individuals and families that are dealing with a recent dementia diagnosis, the IDRF is developing a program to provide grants to those families that need additional financial assistance as they transition their loved one from independent to assisted living. This grant will provide up to 6 months of additional financial support that can be used to pay costs associated with this transition.

Brain Freeze Summer Camp: A major goal of our foundation is to help train future doctors and scientists of tomorrow. The proposed project is a 3-week brain science summer camp targeted toward inner-city middle school. The summer camp will offer seminars by researchers in neuroscience, laboratory instruction by science teachers, science related field trips and completion of a brain science related project. This summer camp will be a competitive program where a scientific committee consisting of science teachers, administrators and members of the community who will select students based on scholastic achievement and scientific interest. This summer camp will offer a unique opportunity to enrich and enhance the student's understanding of brain science in an interactive setting. Goals of this summer camp include: introducing underrepresented middle school students to the field of brain science, increasing student interest in scientific research, increasing the scientific pipeline, and increasing community involvement in education.