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.
Working together, we will improve diagnoses, make groundbreaking treatments available
to patients and provide much-needed support to families caring for loved ones.
The Brain Health Center will 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, opening later this spring, will house a 3-Tesla MRI scanner and the state’s
only 7-Tesla MRI scanner dedicated to patient care, 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. 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,” said Sarah Kirby, associate vice president
for clinical affairs at USC. “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,” said Dr. Tony Asher, president of the Prisma Health
Neurosciences Institute. “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 will provide timely cognitive screenings, evaluations and community-based
support services for patients in seven underserved areas across South Carolina.
