By the end of this year, a newly constructed hub for the study and treatment of diseases of the brain will open in San Antonio. The $100 million Center for Brain Health will revolutionize the way neurodegenerative disorders are diagnosed, treated, and researched in South Texas and beyond, according to Glenn Biggs Institute for Alzheimer’s and Neurodegenerative Diseases founding director Sudha Seshadri, MD, DM. "We are trying to bring together in this one space all that we need for top-quality research, and all that patients and families have told us they need to live the best possible life they can."
For patients with diseases like Alzheimer's, Parkinson’s, and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), Seshadri hopes the Center for Brain Health will be a welcoming space, "Where there are people who want to give them a diagnosis, to offer them the best therapies, and to offer them a chance to be part of cutting-edge research."
The Center will have the best tools for the many jobs the medical professionals there will do, including the most powerful medical imaging device in South Texas, a 7-tesla MRI. The more powerful magnetic strength results in greater image resolution.
"You can see areas like the brain stem," Seshadri explained. "The brain stem is where diseases like Parkinson's begin. The brain stem has tiny nuclei called the locus coeruleus, which is where Alzheimer's begins." There will also be twelve suites in which patients prescribed the newest Alzheimer's medications, which must be delivered intravenously, can receive infusions in comfort.
In that one building, patients will also be able to get physical therapy, art therapy, and music therapy. If they travel for their visit, they can coordinate other types of care with specialists in the adjoining Medical Arts & Research Center or the nearby UT Health San Antonio dental building. "If they have come down from Austin for two days, or from Corpus Christi for two days, they can get this done on day one and day two and go back," Seshadri said. Caregivers will also have access to education and support at the Center.
About the excitement around the approaching opening of the new facility, Seshadri said, "I think San Antonio is well on its way to being a city that changes what we know about dementia and how we treat it."
"We know that we cannot do it alone in San Antonio, we need to work with all the wonderful people all across the world," Seshadri added, "But the spirit I've seen here, I have not seen in my 60 years, until now."
The Center for Brain Health is scheduled to open in December.
