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The Villages Health and elminda joint study receives Erickson Foundation Award for Excellence in Aging Research at 2018 APHA Annual Meeting

The elminda Ltd., an emerging medical technology company dedicated to paving a path to better brain health by integrating big-data repositories, artificial intelligence ("AI") and machine-learning algorithms with its ground-breaking Brain Network Analytics ("BNA") platform, is pleased to announce that a manuscript, entitled "Evaluating Brain Health: Early Findings on the Utility of a Novel Technology to Access Brain Health in Late Life," will receive the prestigious Erickson Foundation Award for Excellence in Aging Research at the upcoming 2018 American Public Health Association ("APHA") annual meeting being held November 9-17 in San Diego, California.

The award-winning manuscript highlights the results of a study to evaluate the capability and potential of BNA to reliably assess cognitive function in older adults, distinguish normal cognitive decline from the early stages of abnormal disease process, and detect cognitive deterioration over time. In the study, the potential for utilizing BNA assessment for early detection of brain disorders, such as Alzheimer's Disease ("AD") and Mild Cognitive Impairment, and for characterizing significant differentiation between healthy aging brains and those experiencing adverse outcomes, was shown. Implications for future research, policy and practice were also discussed.

The study reflects a unique collaboration between corporate-community and academic partners that is vital to robustly demonstrating the BNA's real-world utility.

"We are deeply honored that the APHA Aging & Public Health Section and the Section Award Committee have recognized The Villages Health and elminda joint research with this award," said Ronen Gadot, Chief Executive Officer of elminda. "As awareness and acceptance of BNA among clinicians and researchers continues to grow, we believe it has the potential to become the go-to analysis tool to diagnose and early detect brain functional problems, as well as a standardize way to measure the impact of therapeutic intervention on brain disorders."

"For diseases like Alzheimer's for which there is no cure, but only disease-slowing treatment, detecting changes at the earliest possible signs may be critical in finding effective therapy," said Carla VandeWeerd, Director of Research for The Villages Health and an Associate Professor at the University of South Florida, who serves as one of the study's principal investigators.

"Brain maps of people with depression may show different patterns that doctors could use in determining which medications may be best for treatment," added Jeffrey Lowenkron, Chief Medical Officer for The Villages Health and a principal investigator in the collaborative study.

The Erickson Foundation Award for Excellence in Research recognizes high-caliber research that significantly advances the understanding of positive aging and presents research findings that can be translated into policies and practices that help older persons maintain independence. "The research community around the country has validated the value of what we are looking for," noted Lowenkron and "we feel very fortunate to have this technology in The Villages". The presentation to The Villages Health and elminda will be made during the Aging and Public Health Section Awards Ceremony on November 13, 2018.

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