Virendra Mishra, PhD: Building a Model to Predict Parkinson Disease Dementia

"We want to understand which model is better suited to understand the white matter disorganization that can help predict dementia. That is 1 part of the project. The second part is to understand the connectivity.”

Recently, the National Institutes of Health (NIH) awarded a grant to Cleveland Clinic, expected to total $3.8 million, to support its project, “Towards Generating a Multimodel and Multivariate Classification Model From Imaging and Non-Imaging Measures for Accurate Diagnosis and Monitoring of Dementia in Parkinson’s Disease.” The program is meant to address the clinical concern that despite high levels of dementia affecting those living with Parkinson disease (PD) later in their disease course, there is still no predictive method available for use.

Virendra Mishra, MD, associate staff, Cleveland Clinic, will be heading the operation that will use biomarkers spanning imaging, blood, cerebrospinal fluid, and genetics to develop a predictive mathematical model to identify specific individuals with PD who may develop dementia as their disease progresses. Mishra hopes the research will lead to a method that can be applied in clinical care with a greater-than-chance success rate to improve patient outcomes.

In an interview with NeurologyLive, Mishra provided full details of his upcoming study, including the aims and goals, and how he and his colleagues plans on creating this predictive model.