UNITY : a low-field magnetic resonance neuroimaging initiative to characterize neurodevelopment in low and middle-income settings
Abate, F.; Adu-Amankwah, A.; Ae-Ngibise, K.A.; Agbokey, F.; Agyemang, V.A.; Agyemang, C.T.; Akgun, C.; Ametepe, J.; Arichi, T.; Asante, K.P.; Balaji, S.; Baljer, L.; Basser, P.J.; Beauchemin, J.; Bennallick, C.; Berhane, Y.; Boateng-Mensah, Y.; Bourke, N.J.; Bradford, L.; Bruchhage, M.M.K.; Cano Lorente, R.; Cawley, P.; Cercignani, M.; D Sa, V.; De Canha, A.; Navarro, N.D.; Dean, D.C., III; Delarosa, J.; Donald, K.A.; Dvorak, A.; Edwards, A.D.; Field, D.; Frail, H.; Freeman, B.; George, T.; Gholam, J.; Guerrero-Gonzalez, J.; Hajnal, J.V.; Haque, R.; Hollander, W.; Hoodbhoy, Z.; Huentelman, M.; Jafri, S.K.; Jones, D.K.; Joubert, Fourie; Karaulanov, T.; Kasaro, M.P.; Knackstedt, S.; Kolind, S.; Koshy, B.; Kravitz, R.; Lafayette, S.L.; Lee, A.C.; Lena, B.; Lepore, N.; Linguraru, M.; Ljungberg, E.; Lockhat, Zarina I.; Loth, E.; Mannam, P.; Masemola, K.M.; Moran, R.; Murphy, D.; Nakwa, F.L.; Nankabirwa, V.; Nelson, C.A.; North, K.; Nyame, S.; O Halloran, R.; O'Muircheartaigh, J.; Oakley, B.F.; Odendaal, H.; Ongeti, C.M.; Onyango, D.; Oppong, S.A.; Padormo, F.; Parvez, D.; Paus, T.; Pepper, Michael Sean; Phiri, K.S.; Poorman, M.; Ringshaw, J.E.; Rogers, J.; Rutherford, M.; Sabir, H.; Sacolick, L.; Seal, M.; Sekoli, M.L.; Shama, T.; Siddiqui, K.; Sindano, N.; Spelke, M.B.; Springer, P.E.; Suleman, Farhana Ebrahim; Sundgren, P.C.; Teixeira, R.; Terekegn, W.; Traughber, M.; Tuuli, M.G.; Van Rensburg, Jeanne; Váša, F.; Velaphi, S.; Velasco, P.; Viljoen, I.M.; Vokhiwa, M.; Webb, A.; Weiant, C.; Wiley, N.; Wintermark, P.; Yibetal, K.; Deoni, S.C.L.; Williams, S.C.R.
Date:
2024-10
Abstract:
Measures of physical growth, such as weight and height have long been the predominant outcomes for monitoring child health and evaluating interventional outcomes in public health studies, including those that may impact neurodevelopment. While physical growth generally reflects overall health and nutritional status, it lacks sensitivity and specificity to brain growth and developing cognitive skills and abilities. Psychometric tools, e.g., the Bayley Scales of Infant and Toddler Development, may afford more direct assessment of cognitive development but they require language translation, cultural adaptation, and population norming. Further, they are not always reliable predictors of future outcomes when assessed within the first 12–18 months of a child’s life. Neuroimaging may provide more objective, sensitive, and predictive measures of neurodevelopment but tools such as magnetic resonance (MR) imaging are not readily available in many low and middle-income countries (LMICs). MRI systems that operate at lower magnetic fields (< 100mT) may offer increased accessibility, but their use for global health studies remains nascent. The UNITY project is envisaged as a global partnership to advance neuroimaging in global health studies. Here we describe the UNITY project, its goals, methods, operating procedures, and expected outcomes in characterizing neurodevelopment in sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia.
Description:
DATA AVAILABILITY :
Data collected as part of the UNITY network will be made available to researchers from the academic communities at varying levels of granularity depending on site-specific IRB approvals. For some sites, full access to individual raw and processed data will be provided, whilst for others, owing to national policies (e.g., those located in India) may only be able to provide de-identified composite values (e.g., regional volumes, mean relaxometry measures, etc.). The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation is committed to open access and broad data availability as permitted.
