MADISON, Wis. – Research participants have begun volunteering for brain scans at the University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health for a national study on Alzheimer’s disease and related dementias called Clarity in Alzheimer’s Disease and Related Dementias Research Through Imaging, or CLARiTI.
One of the first to participate is Barbara Smith Ballen of Dane County. The 70-year-old mother of five began volunteering for research studies at the Wisconsin Alzheimer’s Disease Research Center in 2018 and enrolled in CLARiTI in 2024. Smith Ballen’s father was diagnosed with dementia in the years leading up to this death, which motivated her to become a research participant.