From The New England Council

BOSTON

“Joyita Dutta, an electrical engineer from the University of Massachusetts at Lowell, has devoted much of her time to aiding in the fight against Alzheimer’s Disease over the past decade. Her expertise, specifically in image processing and artificial intelligence, has been crucial to this important fight since 2013. With a new funding award, Dutta now has the opportunity to expand her research.

“This funding award, a five-year $2.7 million grant from the National Institutes of Health, will allow Dutta to develop new models of brain imaging to track the progression of Alzheimer’s. The award was originally awarded to Massachusetts General Hospital, which in turn selected her for the project. The computer models Dutta intends to develop with the new funding will be able to predict the buildup of ‘tau tangles,’  proteins that can cluster into tangles in the brain and are associated with the cognitive decline found in Alzheimer’s patients. According to Dutta, UMass Lowell is an ideal place for both her teaching and this type of complex research.

“‘On a campus you are around an enthusiastic bunch of young minds and that is very energizing,’ Dutta said, adding that the university leaders ‘have provided incredible support in helping make all [her] research happen.’