USC, Prisma Health partner on Brain Health Center in Columbia

The University of South Carolina and Prisma Health are partnering to offer state-of-the-art care and diagnostics to patients with complex neurological conditions at the new Brain Health Center in Columbia.

Opening later this spring, the Brain Health Center was created to provide patients and caregivers across the state access to advanced technologies, specialized clinical and support staff, and leading-edge diagnostics and treatments, including promising new infusion therapies. The center will house a 3 Tesla MRI scanner and the state’s first 7 Tesla MRI scanner, enabling high-resolution imaging capable of detecting minute brain lesions associated with epilepsy, Alzheimer’s disease, multiple sclerosis, Parkinson’s disease and other neurodegenerative disorders.

The partnership between USC and Prisma Health is a co-management agreement with joint oversight of the clinical services and academic activities delivered at the Brain Health Center, according to a joint news release from the two organizations. In addition to advanced diagnostics and therapies, the center will offer structured lifestyle programs aimed at supporting cognitive disease prevention and symptom reduction, as well as patient and caregiver support, group classes and community education. Scholarly activities will include cutting-edge research and unique training opportunities for medical students, residents and fellows.

“We’re proud to partner with Prisma Health to bring world-class care to South Carolinians with complex neurological conditions,” Sarah Kirby, associate vice president for clinical affairs at USC, said in the news release. “Working together, we will improve diagnoses, make groundbreaking treatments available to patients and provide much-needed support to families caring for loved ones.”

“Supporting brain health is fundamental to preserving the essential capacities that allow individuals to lead meaningful lives, contribute productively to society, and adapt in a rapidly changing world,” Dr. Tony Asher, president of the Prisma Health Neurosciences Institute, said in the release. “I’m tremendously excited to work with our partners at USC to promote vitality and resilience in the communities we together serve by protecting and — whenever possible — enhancing brain and neurological health.”

The Brain Health Center is located at 3555 Harden St. Extension, near Prisma Health Richland Hospital and USC’s developing Health Sciences Campus in the Bull Street District. The renovated 65,000-square-foot building will serve as a location for USC’s Brain Health Network, which provides timely cognitive screenings, evaluations and community-based support services for patients in seven underserved areas across South Carolina.