Care that should reach people, and doesn’t
Improving access to neurology care for older adults with dementia
Status: In progress · Funded by: NIH/NINDS RF1NS143735 · 2025–2029
New treatments for Alzheimer’s disease and related dementias only matter if people can get to a neurologist. Access is distributed unevenly, and the reasons stack across every level — referral patterns, insurance, geography, workforce, trust. This project maps those drivers and develops a patient navigation intervention to open access to specialty care and to future therapies.
Roles: Michelle Keller, Utibe Essien, Multiple Principal Investigators
Barriers to new Alzheimer’s therapies among Hispanic and Latino older adults
Status: In progress · Funded by: NIH/NIA R61AG089049 · 2024–2026
Cost is the barrier everyone names first, and it isn’t the only one. Through interviews, claims analysis, and microsimulation, this project examines what actually stands between Hispanic and Latino older adults and new Alzheimer’s treatments.
Role: Michelle Keller, Co-Investigator · MPIs: Doris Molina-Henry, Mireille Jacobson Team: Sophia Soriano, Grecia Vargas Meléndez, Aani Nagaiah
How patients, families, and clinicians weigh the new Alzheimer’s medications
Status: Recruiting · Funded by: USC · 2024–2026
Disease-modifying Alzheimer’s medications arrived with real benefits, real risks, and real costs, and everyone involved has to weigh them without much precedent. Through interviews with people living with memory problems, the family and friends who help them decide, and the clinicians who prescribe, this study examines how each group assesses the value of these treatments — and where their assessments diverge.
Role: Michelle Keller, Principal Investigator · Team: Dinithi Perera, Sophia Soriano, Aani Nagaiah
