News & Events

Publication: Passive Measures of Physical Activity and Cadence as Early Indicators of Cognitive Impairment: Observational Study

Authors: Huitong Ding, Stefaniya Brown, David R Paquette, Taylor A Orwig, Nicole Spartano, Honghuang Lin Abstract Background: Emerging research shows regular physical activity reduces cognitive decline risk, but most studies rely on self-reported measures, which are limited by recall bias, subjectivity, and a lack of continuous monitoring capability. Objective: This study aimed to explore passive physical activity measures as early indicators of cognitive impairment by examining their association with cognitive impairment incidence and neuropsychological (NP) test performance. Methods: We included participants from the Framingham Heart Study (FHS), a community-based cohort with longitudinal cognitive impairment surveillance. Participants wore an Actical accelerometer for at least 3 days, excluding bathing. Thirty physical activity measures were grouped into intensity-specific durations, step and cadence summaries, and peak cadence. Cox proportional hazard models were applied to assess their associations with incident…

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Oral Presentation: Alzheimer’s Association International Conference 2025 – Technology And Dementia Preconference

Jennifer Flexman presented "Improving Access to Dementia Care though AI-Powered Cognitive Rehabilitation Therapy" at the Technology And Dementia Preconference during Session 5: Data Blitz.

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Award: Jiani Zeng, co-founder and CPO of Butlr wins 2025 McKnight’s Women of Distinction award in the Commercial Excellence category

The technology designed by Zeng has been key in improving senior living and care operations, helping staff members effectively monitor residents through motion detection, enabling them to respond quickly to acute health risks without compromising resident privacy.Forster Stubbs, McKnight Senior Living The work of Jiani Zeng, a Chinese designer, researcher, and co-founder and chief product officer of Butlr Technologies, often takes place in the background, but the results always end up at the forefront. Thanks in part to her efforts, Butlr is the first company to fuse artificial intelligence and body heat sensing technology to provide insights into how humans use indoor space for living and working while ensuring anonymity. This technology has significant applications in the senior living and care sector and helped earn Zeng a 2025 McKnight’s Women of Distinction award in the Commercial Excellence…

Continue ReadingAward: Jiani Zeng, co-founder and CPO of Butlr wins 2025 McKnight’s Women of Distinction award in the Commercial Excellence category

2025 a2 National Symposium Plenary Talk: Griffin Weber, MD, PhD — Connecting Health Organizations with Federated Research Networks

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The integration and analysis of electronic health record (EHR) data across institutions present both significant challenges and transformative opportunities for biomedical research. This talk outlines the development and application of federated data networks such as I2B2 and SHRINE, which enable real-time, privacy-preserving queries across distributed EHR systems. These platforms support large-scale cohort discovery and have been instrumental in initiatives like the EnACT network and the COVID-19-focused 4CE consortium. In contrast, centralized repositories like the NIH’s N3C and Epic’s Cosmos database offer comprehensive datasets conducive to machine learning but may obscure site-specific variability. 

Continue Reading2025 a2 National Symposium Plenary Talk: Griffin Weber, MD, PhD — Connecting Health Organizations with Federated Research Networks

2025 a2 National Symposium Plenary Talk: Jordan Smoller, MD — An Introduction to the All of Us Research Program

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The All of Us Research Program, a flagship initiative of the NIH, aims to build one of the most comprehensive and diverse biomedical data resources in the world by enrolling over one million participants across the United States. Dr. Jordan Smoller, a lead investigator in the program, outlines its structure, scope, and transformative potential for advancing precision medicine. With over 850,000 participants enrolled and more than 630,000 contributing data, the program integrates electronic health records (EHRs), genomic data, physical measurements, surveys, and wearable device data. 

Continue Reading2025 a2 National Symposium Plenary Talk: Jordan Smoller, MD — An Introduction to the All of Us Research Program