# Apathy and Depression following Intracerebral Hemorrhage

> **NIH NIH K23** · MASSACHUSETTS GENERAL HOSPITAL · 2021 · $200,880

## Abstract

Alessandro Biffi is a Behavioral Neurologist and Neuropsychiatrist at Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH),
whose career goal is to become a leading clinician-investigator in the field of the neuropsychiatric
manifestations of cerebrovascular disorders. In preliminary studies, Dr. Biffi has found that apathy and
depression develop with high frequency in survivors of Intracerebral Hemorrhage (ICH). Furthermore,
development of these neuropsychiatric disorders substantially increases risk for a combined subsequent
endpoint including death, stroke and dementia. Prevention of apathy/depression after ICH may therefore
represent a novel strategy to improve long-term outcome after ICH. The proposed project addresses key
unresolved questions that must be answered in order to designs trials of apathy/depression prevention after
ICH. These questions are: 1) what is the relationship between post-ICH apathy/depression (PIA/D) and each
key individual outcome for the patient (death, recurrent ICH, ischemic stroke, dementia)?; 2) which biological
processes responsible for PIA/D could be targeted with novel prevention strategies? Dr. Biffi has specifically
singled out anatomical ICH characteristics, underlying neurodegenerative/cerebrovascular chronic conditions
and long-term blood pressure control as biological mechanisms for investigation. Addressing these questions
is made all the more pressing by the lack of prior studies of post-ICH apathy/depression. Published studies of
stroke-related neuropsychiatric sequelae focused almost exclusively on ischemic stroke, and are therefore
unable to address ICH-specific biological mechanisms (e.g. the role of hydrocephalus and intraventricular
hemorrhage in predicting apathy/depression risk). Dr. Biffi established an early-career track record
investigating the epidemiology of cerebrovascular conditions, and acquiring expertise in genomics and
bioinformatics in the process. He also generated preliminary data supporting the feasibility of the proposed
research, as part of a mentored R25 award. The proposed K23 award will train Dr. Biffi in selection, capture
and interpretation of cognitive and neuropsychiatric measures, health data remote monitoring, and advanced
neuroimaging techniques. To this end, Dr. Biffi has assembled a team of experts in all aforementioned areas,
leveraging the extensive resources and exceptional environment of Massachusetts General Hospital / Harvard
Medical School. Dr. Jonathan Rosand will serve as primary mentor, and coordinate a team of highly
experienced co-mentors including Drs. David Bennett, Anand Viswanathan, Deborah Blacker, David Salat,
Kamal Jethwani and Janet Sherman. This award will provide Dr. Biffi with the skills to evolve into an
independent clinician-investigator, focused on prevention of neuropsychiatric disorders in cerebrovascular
diseases - with specific emphasis on apathy/depression prevention to improve long-term outcome after
intracerebral hemorrhage.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10204128
- **Project number:** 5K23NS100816-05
- **Recipient organization:** MASSACHUSETTS GENERAL HOSPITAL
- **Principal Investigator:** Alessandro Biffi
- **Activity code:** K23 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2021
- **Award amount:** $200,880
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 2017-09-29 → 2022-06-30

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10204128

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10204128, Apathy and Depression following Intracerebral Hemorrhage (5K23NS100816-05). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-24 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10204128. Licensed CC0.

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