Here is where we are. Four months after receiving Institutional Review Board approval for our full study (April 2019) and two years since we started a small pilot study (Aug 2017), 130 people are enrolled as full study volunteers in the Quantu Project. A dozen dedicated volunteers are already providing biological samples over time that are helping us understand how human brain cells form and regenerate; and a subset of volunteers are also helping us test and validate wearable fitness and sleep-recording devices in a clinical setting.
Thank you, volunteers! We are very grateful for your help in advancing brain health.
We're enrolling new volunteers, too. Please share the volunteer link with friends and family who may be interested. We welcome volunteers from all ages, while we're currently particularly interested in recruiting healthy people younger than 25, people older than 75, athletes across ages, and people diagnosed with cognitive or sleep disorders. We also received approval to enroll children (< 18, with a guardian's permission), to improve our understanding of how to optimize brain health across a lifespan. We are enrolling people remotely (online or by phone) and in person. There is a particular need for volunteers willing to be a part of the whole study (activity tracking, blood-draws, cognitive testing, and exercise & sleep interventions designed to improve brain health) in San Antonio, Houston, Los Angeles or the San Francisco Bay Area.
More than 580 people have signed up online, and we're grateful for everyone who has expressed interest. About one in four people who sign-up online have been accepted for enrollment. Whether or not they become a Quantu Project volunteer, everyone is welcome to attend our workshops, learn about the project and opt to receive slides/web material about the Quantu Project.
Based on the positive feedback from our inaugural workshop August 10th, we plan to share more on the "Science & Engineering behind the Quantu Project" at each of our upcoming workshops, including presentations by our researchers working on the Quantu Project and guest speakers in neuroscience and brain health. Our next workshop is planned for Saturday, October 26th. We hope to see you there, and at other future events!
To make the Quantu Project a success and achieve an impact on advancing brain health, we need a village. In fact, many villages. We need coordination among collaborators in medical institutes, research laboratories, fitness centers, proteomics facilities, and clinics across the country. We also need you - our volunteers and team members - who make the project possible.
Thank you again.
I am unable to attend the “How Music affects the Brain” due to a previous commitment. I hope that the program will be available on line like the first workshop.
When I retired in 2000, I made the decision to obtain a piano and take lessons, no previous experience.
Talk about teaching an old dog new tricks! Well, I’m working on it mentally and physically. Who knew?
Thank you,
Karen Potyk