Clinical Trials

Clinical: Geriatric Medicine, Obesity, Health Promotion, Frailty Research: Obesity and Physical Function in Older Adults; Using technology (telemedicine, remote monitoring) to enhance health in older adults

Research interests include: Delirium, Postoperative Neurocognitive Disorders, APOE4 biology, Multi-omic studies

The UNC Endocrinology Diabetes Obesity Clinical Research Unit (ENDO CRU) is a leading site for clinical and translational studies of diabetes, obesity and its complications. We are well positioned to help apply diabetes treatments to cognitive disorders and recruit patients with diabetes and obesity to AD translational studies.

Research interests include studying neurodevelopmental disorders across the lifespan, including Down syndrome, Fragile X syndrome, Angelman syndrome, and Tuberous Sclerosis Complex, and the relationship between early neurodevelopmental conditions and later neurodegeneration.

Delirium and cognitive dysfunction following surgery are associated with significant long-term risk for dementia, diminished quality of life, and increased mortality. To better understand the relationship between OSA, postoperative neurocognitive disorders and neuroinflammation, we are carrying out a prospective observational cohort study called Sleep Apnea, Neuroinflammation, and cognitive Dysfunction Manifesting After Non-cardiac surgery (SANDMAN).

Precision Medicine; Digital Therapeutics; Biomarkers; Clinical Trials; Aging; Artificial Intelligence in Medicine

Dilraj Grewal, MD specializes in the medical and surgical management of patients with complex Vitreoretinal pathology and Uveitis and is a Director of Grading at the Duke Reading Center. His research focus is on 1) Novel Retinal Imaging endpoints in Alzheimer’s and other neurodegenerative diseases 2) Leveraging the use of artificial intelligence to create risk stratification models based on retinal imaging 3) Modeling longitudinal rates of change in retinal imaging in Alzheimer’s and other neurodegenerative diseases to establish potential anatomical endpoints to incorporate into clinical trials.

REC Scholar Project: Development of a Dyadic Stress Management Toolkit for Dementia Caring Dyads

Neuromodulation; Neurorestoration; Bioengineering; Medical Device Design; Clinical Trials; Data Science; Health Outcomes.

1) investigating the role of neuroinflammation and abnormal protein aggregates in the pathogenesis of AMD and developing relevant treatments 2) visual function testing in dry AMD with the goal of establishing functional endpoints for future clinical studies in early AMD 3) elucidating the use of novel retinal imaging biomarkers for early diagnosis of aging diseases (AMD and Alzheimer’s disease), including through the use of artificial intelligence (machine and deep learning).

I am funded on a K23 from the NIA and the Alzheimer’s Association to examine the impact of music-based interventions on sleep in persons living with dementia and their caregivers.

Areas of interest include the role of the microbiota (the trillions of bacteria living in and on our bodies), nutrition, and exercise in modulating HCT outcomes such as graft-versus-host disease (GVHD) and infections.

Clinical trials in Parkinson disease, Alzheimer disease, translational research in Parkinson disease, tremor, stroke, and preclinical studies on Alzheimer’s disease models, stroke, metabolism, and cerebral blood flow.