Meredith Braskie

Neuroimaging markers of dementia across race/ethnicity and sex/gender using an intersectional approach within the HABS‐HD cohort INTRODUCTION Racial/ethnic and sex/gender differences in neuroimaging markers of dementia have been previously explored, but rarely with an intersectional approach. METHODS Using data from the Hea.....

🚨New paper alert!
Looks at how amyloid, tau, & neurodegeneration vary by ethnoracial group & sex in Hispanic & non-Hispanic Black & White adults from HABS-HD.
Led by Dr. Michelle Caunca in Dr. Kristine Yaffe's lab.
Read here ➡️ bit.ly/4gUbwJi
@uscloni.bsky.social

Rates of clinical progression according to biological Alzheimer's disease stages INTRODUCTION Predicting the rate of cognitive decline and the likelihood of progression to dementia remains a critical unmet need in clinical settings. METHODS We assessed progression to mild cogn...

🚨New Paper Alert:
🔎Progression to MCI & dementia in 3 cohorts:
🧠Tau PET+ ➡️ faster cog decline.
🧠 50% of MCI patients ➡️ dementia in 2.36 years if amyloid+ & high tau at baseline.
Led by Lydia Trudel & Joseph Therriault
Dr. Pedro Rosa-Neto's lab
Read ➡️ bit.ly/46x3Byd

Great update on progress in neuroimaging of Alzheimer's disease!

We’re excited to welcome our newest Trojans into our Master of Science program at USC!
This year they’ll:
Train on state-of-the-art MRI
Explore computational modeling & big data
Collaborate with world-class faculty
Build skills to launch careers in neuroscience, medicine & industry✌️🧠

Recent pictures from the Getty Museum gardens, otherwise known as "the good place".

Health and Aging Brain Study–Health Disparities (HABS‐HD) methods and partner characteristics INTRODUCTION The Health and Aging Brain Study–Health Disparities (HABS-HD) is an ongoing prospective study aimed at understanding brain health and aging. The current work provides a description of t.....

🚨New paper alert!
Methods & insights from the Health & Aging Brain Study – Health Disparities (HABS-HD) 🧠📊
We examine amyloid, tau, neurodegeneration, cognition & social determinants of health in Hispanic & NH Black & White older adults.
➡️ bit.ly/4mwp67J
@uscini.bsky.social

Microglial States Are Susceptible to Senescence and Cholesterol Dysregulation in Alzheimer's Disease Senescent microglia in Alzheimer's disease exhibit dysregulated cholesterol metabolism and express Disease-Associated Microglia (DAM) signatures, including inflammatory and phagocytic markers. Single....

This study, led by the talented grad student Boyang Li, identifies microglia undergoing cellular senescence in AD, and targeting cholesterol metabolism in senescent microglia is a therapeutic approach to slow AD progression. onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...

The Jagust Lab alumni dinner is one of my favorite parts of AAIC each year - and this year was no exception. What an amazing group of people, brought together by an extraordinary mentor!

🚨Online #AAIC25 diabetes poster by Amaryllis Tsiknia!
Can a drink of glucose change functional brain connectivity?
🥮+🧠= 🔎
"Default mode network connectivity responses to glucose ingestion in cognitively unimpaired older adults with and without type 2 diabetes"
@uscini.bsky.social

🟣At #AAIC25? Come talk science with Zoe Tsokolas at poster 490 today.
🧠APOE-ɛ4 moderates the association between HDL-c and white matter hyperintensity volume.
⏲️ 3:30 - 4:15 pm
@uscini.bsky.social

🎤 Come see Koral Wheeler's talk today at #AAIC25, relating plasma markers of inflammation to longitudinal tau PET in Hispanic, non-Hispanic Black & non-Hispanic White non-demented older adults.
🧠 Session: Developing Topics on Tau Biomarkers
🕝 2:42–2:49 PM | 📍 Room 701
@uscini.bsky.social

I do, in fact, love this image. So cool!

At #AAIC25? Come check out Danielle Luu's poster, "Genetic Variants and Brain Tau Levels" today from 3:30-4:15 pm at poster 106. We related genetic variants to PI-2620 tau PET in Hispanic, non-Hispanic Black, and non-Hispanic White older adults 🧠🧬
@uscini.bsky.social

✈️Off to #AAIC25 in Toronto!
Excited to share our new research 🧠🧬
• Tau PET & genetic variants
• APOE, HDL, & WMH
• Longitudinal tau PET & inflammation
• DMN & glucose in aging & T2DM

See our full presentation lineup ⬇️
👋Come talk science with us!

Timing of Changes in Alzheimer's Disease Plasma Biomarkers as Assessed by Amyloid and Tau PET Clocks Objective The objective of this study was to evaluate the timing of change of Alzheimer's disease (AD) plasma biomarkers (Aβ42/Aβ40, p-tau217, p-tau181, GFAP, and NfL) from six different assay platf.....

"Clocks" that relate amyloid and tau PET to time were used to examine the timing of biomarker changes (including plasma biomarkers) in Alzheimer disease. Plasma Aβ42/40 changes very early! onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/...

#ENDALZ

🧠New paper alert!
We define PI-2620 tau PET cutpoints in a diverse cohort — summary of 🗝️ findings below ⬇️
675 adults:
• AB+ cognitively impaired (CI)
• AB– cognitively unimpaired (CU)
• 28% Hispanic, 31% NH Black, 41% NH White
🔗 Read it here:
(bit.ly/44RLVwe)
@victoriatennant.bsky.social

New paper in Imaging Neuroscience by Victoria R. Tennant, Meredith N. Braskie, et al:

Establishing tau-PET cut-points for cognitive diagnosis with 18F-PI-2620 in a multi-ethnoracial cohort

doi.org/10.1162/IMAG...

📣Our new paper, led by @victoriatennant.bsky.social, sets tau cut points in a large cohort of Hispanic, and non-Hispanic Black and White participants using PI-2620 PET.
⭐️The ability of our tau cut points to distinguish cognitively impaired vs unimpaired people varied by ethnoracial group.

👋Welcome to Patrick Walsh, who has joined our lab as a full time Project Assistant! Patrick has an MS in Neuroimaging and Informatics from USC (NIIN). He will be working on projects whose goal is to better understand risk for Alzheimer's disease and related dementias 🧠

📣Our paper (bit.ly/3ZndVVh), led by PhD student, Amaryllis Tsiknia, links diabetes to cortical thickness in 2171 Hispanic & non-Hispanic Black and White cognitively unimpaired older adults 🧠🥮
We found that:

In this new paper, led by Dr. Allie Clark:
-People with low resources & high distress had smaller hippocampi & thinner cortex in AD-relevant regions compared with people having more resources and less distress.
-Low resources (regardless of distress) were associated with accelerate brain aging.

🎉Congrats to Noelle Lee, who will start a software development engineer internship this summer! Noelle has been with the lab 4 years and her amazingly analytical mind, careful work, and fun personality made the lab a better place 🌟🧠.
We miss you already, Noelle!

Sleep macro‐architecture, nocturnal hypoxemia, and Alzheimer's disease‐related MRI patterns among diverse older adults INTRODUCTION Sleep patterns change with aging, yet their relationship with brain health, particularly Alzheimer's disease (AD)-related MRI patterns among diverse older adults is not clear. METHODS...

📣 New paper led by Dr. Dillys Lui in Dr. Kristine Yaffe's lab: bit.ly/3HeZFb1
-⬆️ light sleep% & longer REM sleep latency = thinner cortex in Alzheimer's disease-related regions
-⬆️ deep sleep % = thicker cortex (same regions)
-⬆️ apnea hypopnea index in rapid eye movement sleep = ⬆️ WMH volume.

🎓 Another year with our terrific USC MS in Neuroimaging and Informatics program students draws to an end 🧠💻.
Congrats NIIN graduates! So proud of you 🎉!

🎉Congrats to PhD student, Amaryllis Tsiknia, who led our new paper bit.ly/3ZndVVh studying how diabetes relates to cortical thickness in Hispanic & non-Hispanic Black & White older adults!

Read more here: bit.ly/3GS0Ddj
More on our findings soon...

Lab chocolate tasting! 🍫
Winners:
1st: Kinder Bueno
2nd: Cadbury Dairy Milk
3rd: Beyond Good 73% Cocoa Salted Caramel (my fav)

The stats:
Milk chocolate fans: 5
Dark chocolate fans: 4
White chocolate fans: 1
Chocolate euphoria + spiking blood sugar: Everyone

🎉Congrats to Cecilia Ardon Pane! Cecilia started research with us last summer through our CSUF/USC Neurocognitive Aging and Analytics Research Education (NAARE) program.
This fall, she will be joining the Master of Public Health program at UC Irvine with a concentration in Epidemiology!✨

🧠✨Great USC Neuroscience Graduate Program Research Symposium yesterday! Good to talk with current students, hear about their research, and meet new people (including some terrific prospective students).

James Harrison, whose blood donations saved over 2 million babies, has died Harrison, whose plasma contained a rare antibody, rolled up his sleeve 1,173 times from 1954 to 2018. The Australian is credited with helping 2.4 million babies and advancing scientific research.

James Harrison saved ~2.4 million babies through his 1,173 blood & plasma donations that contained a rare antibody. He lost a lung at 14 and needed 2 gallons of donated blood, inspiring him for a lifetime. What an amazing person who leaves behind a remarkable legacy! www.npr.org/2025/03/03/n...

✨Join the virtual information session for our USC Master of Science in Neuroimaging and Informatics (NIIN) program!
Tuesday, February 25, 2025, 4 pm PST
Hear about our curriculum, research opportunities & student perspectives 💻

To register: email NIIN@ini.usc.edu, subject line “Information Session”