@article{14fde8b490b64768b927064e90b78871,
title = "The Latin American Brain Health Institute, a regional initiative to reduce the scale and impact of dementia",
abstract = "Latin American and Caribbean countries face complex challenges to improve brain health and reduce the impact of dementia. Regional hubs devoted to research, capacity building, implementation science, and education are critically needed. The Latin American Brain Health Institute represent an important step to address many of these needs.",
keywords = "Latin America, brain health, capacity building, dementia, networking, translational research",
author = "Claudia Duran-Aniotz and Jorge Sanhueza and Grinberg, {Lea T.} and Andrea Slachevsky and Victor Valcour and Ian Robertson and Brian Lawlor and Bruce Miller and Agust{\'i}n Ib{\'a}{\~n}ez",
note = "Funding Information: Regional capacity building is a core goal of BrainLat as illustrated by ongoing consortia, including the Latin America and Caribbean Consortium on Dementia (LAC‐CD) and The Multi‐Partner Consortium to Expand Dementia Research in Latin America (ReDLat). LAC‐CD, a task force consisting of >250 dementia experts in LACs, has been harmonizing practices, providing professionals with training opportunities, and developing a new knowledge‐to‐action regional plan that includes a biomarker framework. ReDLat, a research project involving 13 sites across Latin America and the United States, aims to expand open regional research by combining genomic, SDH, neuroimaging, and cognition in >4000 individuals to improve the characterization of Alzheimer's disease and frontotemporal lobar degeneration. ReDLat is funded by the Alzheimer's Association, the National Institute on Aging of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), the Rainwater Foundation, Alector, and Takeda. BrainLat supports ReDLat by providing dedicated research positions (faculty positions, postdocs), seed grants, and funds for mobility. The institute complements ReDLat research by focusing on novel and affordable biomarkers (e.g., electroencephalogram, functional magnetic resonance imaging, blood‐based biomarkers) relevant to the region. BrainLat, in association with LAC‐CD and the International Society to Advance Alzheimer's Research and Treatment is currently delivering webinars focused on dementia with content that includes biomarkers, technology, care, and interventions after surveying regional experts{\textquoteright} knowledge on these topics. 1,5 6 1 6 7,8 Funding Information: The authors thank the patients, families, policy makers, non-governmental organizations, and health professionals across Latin America that every day fight against dementia and poor brain health conditions. This work is partially supported by grants from the Multi-Partner Consortium to Expand Dementia Research in Latin America (ReDLat, funded by the National Institutes of Aging of the National Institutes of Health under award number R01AG057234, an Alzheimer's Association grant [SG-20-725707-ReDLat], the Rainwater Foundation, Alector, and the Global Brain Health Institute); Takeda CW2680521; CONICET; FONCYT-PICT (2017-1818, 2017-1820); ANID/FONDECYT Regular (1210195, 1210176, 1220995, 1210622, 443865, 1191726); ANID/FONDAP (15150012); ANID/PIA/ANILLOS ACT210096; ANID/FONDEF ID20I10152; and Alzheimer Disease Association 2018-AARG-591107. The content is solely the responsibility of the authors and does not represent the official views of these institutions. Funding Information: The Latin American Brain Health Institute (BrainLat) was recently created to tackle many of these challenges. Launched at the University Adolfo Ib{\'a}{\~n}ez (Chile), BrainLat is guided by an international advisory board (60 institutions) and is affiliated with the Global Brain Health Institute (GBHI), which works in partnership with the University of California San Francisco (UCSF), and Trinity College Dublin (TCD). GBHI is an Atlantic Philanthropies–funded initiative that aims to reduce the scale and impact of dementia. Links to GBHI, together with connections with regional initiatives and public centers, have been spurring BrainLat research collaborations and joint training programs, crucial to boost productive networking. BrainLat is supporting the regional dementia research agenda through seed grants, postdoctoral positions, specialized infrastructure, educational programs, and permanent full‐time research positions (Table 1 ). BrainLat's focus on strengthening regional and international multidisciplinary brain health research and diplomacy has empowered innovative brain health leaders across LACs. Publisher Copyright: {\textcopyright} 2022 The Authors. Alzheimer's & Dementia published by Wiley Periodicals LLC on behalf of Alzheimer's Association.",
year = "2022",
month = sep,
doi = "10.1002/alz.12710",
language = "English",
volume = "18",
pages = "1696--1698",
journal = "Alzheimer's and Dementia",
issn = "1552-5260",
publisher = "John Wiley & Sons Inc.",
number = "9",
}