Sep 24, 2025
VCU’s Annie Rhodes champions dementia care improvements in Virginia
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For Annie Rhodes, Ph.D., what started as a side project during her doctoral studies at VCU has blossomed into a statewide tool that’s reshaping how Virginia tracks and supports individuals diagnosed with dementia and their caregivers.
As the director of the Virginia Memory Project, Rhodes has helped launch one of the nation’s most comprehensive dementia registries, not to mention one of the few that actively engages the public. In recognition of that work, the 2017 graduate was named one of VCU’s Top 10 alums of the past 10 years, 100 People to Meet by Virginia Business and 40 under 40 by Style Weekly.
“I kept asking, how many people in Virginia actually have dementia? And no one could tell me the answer,” Rhodes said. “So I decided to make a registry. It really was quite that simple.”
But Rhodes didn’t stop at building a database. Leveraging her background in public health and gerontology, along with her Ph.D. in Health Related Sciences from VCU’s College of Health Professions, she envisioned a different kind of registry: one that connects, informs and empowers.
Unlike traditional disease registries that operate quietly behind the scenes, the Virginia Memory Project offers two pathways. Individuals with a clinical diagnosis are automatically enrolled, while caregivers, those experiencing memory concerns or anyone curious about brain health resources can enroll on their own. Once in the registry, members can request follow-up support, educational materials and even community workshops.
“We wanted to take the mystique and the fear out of the word ‘registry,’ ” said Rhodes, an assistant professor with the Virginia Center on Aging, where the memory project is housed. “Dementia disproportionately impacts communities of color, and people are often hesitant to seek help. Our goal is to meet people where they are, provide resources immediately and help guide them to the next step.”
Started only three years ago, the Virginia Memory Project – developed in collaboration with the Virginia Department of Health and via the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention – is already changing how the state addresses dementia. With nearly 1 million documented clinical encounters and rich, self-reported data, the project has mapped dementia hot spots and care gaps across Virginia – important information that’s shaping public health initiatives and even state legislation. In 2024, Rhodes and her team successfully advocated to have the Virginia Memory Project written into state law, ensuring its longevity and role in shaping dementia policy.
All of this came alongside her dissertation work, which is also having an impact. Driven by her early experiences working in nursing homes, Rhodes opted to take a closer look at the federal Special Focus Facility program, designed to identify and improve the nation’s worst-performing nursing homes. Her research revealed that the program falls short of its goals.
“My bottom-line finding was that there’s a waiting list to be the worst,” Rhodes said, referencing the limited capacity of the program. “There are hundreds of nursing homes providing chronically substandard care that never make it onto the list. And the ones that do, well, the evidence that the program actually works is slim.”
Her research and analysis revealed gaps in oversight, staffing challenges and the urgent need for systemic reform. That work has attracted the attention of investigative journalists, policymakers and advocates.
“I decided I was going to become an expert on this program, and I did,” Rhodes said. “The Ph.D. program at VCU really helped me do that.”
Today, in her work within VCU’s Department of Gerontology, Rhodes continues to blend research, policy and advocacy to improve care for older adults across the state. And she has a message for Virginians: If you’re concerned about your memory or caring for someone who is, don’t wait.
“Anyone can register,” she said. “You don’t need a diagnosis to raise your hand and say, ‘I want resources, I want support.’ The more people we hear from, the better we can serve the community.”
Learn more or register now for the Virginia Memory Project. Your voice helps build the data we need — and the future we deserve.