LSU Board of Supervisors Provides Continued Authorization of the Institute of Dementia Research & Prevention
On Dec. 11, Pennington Biomedical's Dr. Jeff Keller, Director of the Institute for Dementia Research & Prevention (IRDP), presented a report on the accomplishments of the Institute over the past several years to the LSU Board of Supervisors.
Under Dr. Keller's leadership, the IRDP has led Alzheimer's clinical research since 2008, earning 2014 designation as an Alzheimer's Disease Cooperative Study site, conducting more than 25 NIH and pharmaceutical trials, building a longitudinal brain study with over 7,000 participants, generating approximately 20 peer reviewed papers, and advancing two patent applications related to cognitive impairment and dementia.
The mission of the Institute for Dementia Research and Prevention is to improve the quality of life for individuals in Louisiana by generating world class research programs focused on dementia prevention, providing local access to the latest clinical trials for the treatment of dementia, and providing educational opportunities for individuals/families affected by dementia.
Recent accomplishments include the validation and scale up of the fully remote, self-guided web LABrainS platform in 2020, which has steadily grown participation and now serves as a low burden backbone for cognitive screening and research matching across Louisiana and the United States.
Planned projects from 2025 to 2030 focus on expanding web LABrainS to more than 20,000 participants, with potential to exceed 100,000 through partnerships, adding assessments of sleep, driving risk, and falls, and integrating caregiver offerings that connect families to services and research opportunities.
Following Dr. Keller's presentation on the insights into the IRDP and its anticipated efforts to further address dementia, the LSU Board of Supervisors voted to approve the continued authorization of the Institute at the Center.
Dr. Keller is the director of the Aging and Neurodegeneration Lab and IDRP at Pennington Biomedical. His current research efforts focus on the development and commercialization of scientific technologies he and his numerous colleagues/collaborators have established at Pennington Biomedical.
Dr. Keller's areas of focus include three primary research topics: 1) improving driver health and roadway safety; 2) improving the delivery of medical and non-medical aspects of care for individuals with cognitive impairment; and 3) establishing novel tools and technology to support clinical research in community dwelling individuals.
About the Pennington Biomedical Research Center
The Pennington Biomedical Research Center is at the forefront of medical discovery as it relates to understanding the triggers of obesity, diabetes, cardiovascular disease, cancer and dementia. Pennington Biomedical has the vision to lead the world in promoting nutrition and metabolic health and eliminating metabolic disease through scientific discoveries that create solutions from cells to society. The center conducts basic, clinical, and population research, and is a campus in the LSU System.
The research enterprise at Pennington Biomedical includes over 600 employees within a network of 44 clinics and research laboratories, and 16 highly specialized core service facilities. Its scientists and physician/scientists are supported by research trainees, lab technicians, nurses, dietitians, and other support personnel. Pennington Biomedical is a globally recognized state-of-the-art research institution in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. For more information, see www.pbrc.edu.
Provided by Louisiana State University
