Indiana Students Develop Drug Alternative to Brain Surgery

Imagine being told you have Alzheimer's or Parkinson's, only to discover you actually have a reversible condition that doctors rarely recognize. That's the reality for hundreds of thousands of Americans with normal pressure hydrocephalus, a brain disorder that mimics dementia but can be treated.

At Indiana University Indianapolis' Hydrocephalus Research Center, Ph.D. student Jane Obiako and two undergraduate researchers are building something that doesn't exist yet: a laboratory model that could lead to drug therapy instead of brain surgery. Right now, patients face only one option: a surgically implanted shunt that drains excess fluid from their brain.

Obiako moved 6,000 miles from Nigeria after discovering the center on LinkedIn. She had been researching hydrocephalus treatments at the University of Ibadan when she found Professor Bonnie Blazer-Yost's work online and knew she had to be part of it.

The condition affects nearly 1.5% of adults over 70, causing memory problems, difficulty walking, and bladder control issues. Yet when Obiako mentions it at medical conferences, professionals often respond with blank stares. "When I talk to people about Normal Pressure Hydrocephalus, they're like, 'What's that?'" she said.

Undergraduate researchers Ryan Ford and Ola Oladeji joined the mission with personal connections to the work. Ford, who has Hashimoto's disease, understands what living with a chronic condition means. Oladeji saw a chance to make real impact through brain research.

Together, the trio has mastered skills from operating MRIs to analyzing research papers. They've become problem solvers, finding creative workarounds when technology fails and building expertise that extends far beyond this single project.

Why This Inspires

The Hydrocephalus Research Center isn't just developing one model. They're building drug alternatives for every type of hydrocephalus, with students collaborating across projects and sharing discoveries. "They are, in many cases, making the discoveries," Blazer-Yost said. "They're the ones finding the new things."

This weekend, the team will present their findings at HA Connect in Indianapolis, sharing their progress with researchers from around the world. For once, they won't need to explain what hydrocephalus is—they can focus entirely on the solutions they're creating.

What started as a LinkedIn search has become a collaborative effort to help 800,000 Americans avoid brain surgery and get their lives back.