Advancing Chuck Feeney’s Legacy Through Brain Health Innovation

In this perspective, Atlantic Fellows for Equity in Brain Health Corrina Grimes and Adolfo García reflect on their collaboration on MemoryTell—a speech-based platform making early, accessible dementia diagnosis a reality for more people.

From TELL to MemoryTell: Turning Science Into Solutions

In a previous blog, Adolfo introduced TELL, a web-based app he developed that harnesses speech and language analysis to identify early signs of cognitive decline. TELL’s success demonstrated how cross-disciplinary collaboration and technology can bridge the gap between laboratory research and clinical practice, offering hope for earlier, more equitable dementia diagnosis.

TELL simply requires participants to speak, be it by describing their routine, retelling a story or narrating a video. Each of these tasks generates a high-quality audio file. AI tools are then used to extract acoustic and linguistic features from the recordings and transcripts. These features are digital biomarkers of brain health, linked to, for example, cognitive, emotional or motor skills (domains that are affected early in different neurodegenerative disorders). TELL has been streamlined for direct use in clinical settings, generating reports that inform clinical decision making and enrich patients’ clinical histories.

We founded MemoryTell with the TELL team, to harness these tools and bring them into the everyday reality of memory clinics—making early, accessible dementia diagnosis a reality for more people, with less burden and greater speed. This is a clear example of implementation science, delineating a trajectory from scientific discovery to technological innovation to practical application.

Innovation Rooted in Philanthropy and Equity

With its focus on bold ideation for transformative change, MemoryTell aims to incarnate Chuck Feeney’s vision for the Atlantic Fellows community. Thanks to support from Innovate UK and Tech Start, MemoryTell is now undergoing clinical validation on the Island of Ireland (Derry and Dublin), with further studies planned in Auckland, New Zealand, in partnership with Atlantic Fellow Sarah Cullum. These trials are not just technical milestones—they are a testament to the power of global collaboration and the drive to address urgent gaps in dementia care.

For More Information

To learn more about the evolution of TELL and MemoryTell and the ongoing clinical trials, visit MemoryTell.com, TELL, or connect with the GBHI community. Together, we are striving to enhance dementia diagnosis and monitoring while honouring a legacy of hope and innovation.

• Email Corrina Grimes at corrina.grimes@gbhi.org
• Email Adolfo García at adolfo.garcia@gbhi.org

^{Chuck Feeney and Corinna Grimes in 2017.}