Breaking Barriers: Exploring blood-brain barrier function in a Black population at risk of dementia using advanced MRI.

Dementia rates are 20% more prevalent in Black adults compared to the UK average. Dementia risk factors such as hypertension and diabetes are up 4 times higher in the Black community compared to the general population, causing changes in the brain that can be detected using neuroimaging techniques. Advanced MRI techniques measuring subtle blood-brain barrier alterations show promise as an early biomarker for dementia, but have yet to be characterised across diverse populations. Therefore, this proposal aims to investigate whether blood-brain barrier alterations occur at a pre-dementia stage, in people who have vascular risk factors such as hypertension, diabetes or vascular disease, with a focus on the Black community in Greater Manchester and New York. This study will run alongside two interactive workshops about brain health to promote the inclusion of Black participants in dementia neuroimaging studies.