Federal Project Grant Award Summary

The Johns Hopkins University received a $465,035 Project Grant from the National Institute on Aging under the Aging Research program (CFDA 93.866), awarded February 1, 2026, with completion targeted for January 31, 2031. This award supports the development and clinical validation of a novel non-contrast magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) technique termed Venous Transit Time Imaging by Changes in T1 Relaxation (VICTR) to measure venous transit time (VTT) in the brain. The research addresses a critical gap in understanding vascular cognitive impairment and dementia (VCID), which represents the second leading cause of cognitive dysfunction in older adults. The VICTR technique measures the time required for water molecules to travel from capillary beds to draining cerebral veins by tracking T1 relaxation transitions, providing a non-invasive biomarker for small vessel disease pathology, particularly venous abnormalities associated with white matter hyperintensities.

The project will deliver three primary research outcomes: development of the VICTR MRI technique with optimization for clinical application, validation of VTT measurements against established vascular and cognitive markers, and the first clinical application of VTT assessment in VCID populations. Preliminary data demonstrates feasibility and sensitivity of the proposed methodology, with associations observed between VTT and both vascular risk factors and white matter hyperintensities. These deliverables will advance understanding of venous hemodynamics in small vessel disease and establish VTT as a potential diagnostic and monitoring tool for age-related cognitive decline.