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By Meghan McCarthy 

Smartwatches can quickly tell users how many steps they’ve taken, what’s next on their calendar, or even how well they’re sleeping. But could they be used to measure empathy? 

If so, the data could be an innovative tool in the understudied form of dementia called bv FTD, or behavioral variant frontotemporal dementia, said Penn Memory Center Clark Scholar Emma Rhodes, PhD.   

Persons living with bv FTD often lose compassion for the people to whom they are closest, such as their spouses or children. Many struggle to notice social cues and as a result tend to respond inappropriately or not at all to emotional situations.  

“Empathy requires being able to notice when someone is upset and identify when it’s appropriate to show compassion,” said Dr. Rhodes. “Because this requires many brain regions, it’s hard to scientifically pin down the mechanisms behind this.”  

By Marilyn Perkins

Emily Largent, Photo credit: UPenn Communications and Eric Sucar

When Emily Largent worked as an ICU nurse at UCLA, she didn’t shy away from the difficult cases. It wasn’t necessarily the medical procedures themselves that were challenging; caring for patients after organ transplants or managing a patient on life support were part of the job description. What really drew Largent to a case was the tough decisions that were involved. Should this patient really be a candidate for an organ transplant? What do we do when a patient’s family disagrees about ending life support?

As Largent worked on these cases, she saw the same questions come up again and again—and she had to solve them, again and again. “And it struck me,” she says, “that these might be instances where we need a systemic change, so that we weren’t repeatedly needing to come up with one-off solutions.”

That realization drove Largent to enter a bioethics fellowship at the National Institutes of Health (NIH) with Ezekiel Emmanuel, now a Penn Integrates Knowledge University Professor and the vice provost for global initiatives. She went on to obtain her J.D. and Ph.D. in health policy and is now an assistant professor of medical ethics and health policy at the University of Pennsylvania’s Perelman School of Medicine. While she no longer works in the ICU, she’s built a career dissecting the ethical issues around one of the leading causes of death in the United States: Alzheimer’s disease.

Alzheimer’s is “a huge public health problem,” says Largent. About 1 in 9 people older than 65 have Alzheimer’s dementia, and new diagnoses of the neurodegenerative disease are projected to double by 2050. The growing threat of Alzheimer’s has stoked the search for a cure or disease-modifying treatment.

By Meghan McCarthy 

Beth Segaloff, LCSW, is no stranger to grief.  

Years ago, Beth found her soulmate, Ben Sklaver, at the beach community where both of their families lived. Although their families had been connected for years, the two didn’t become a couple until spending July 4th together in 2008.

Ben and Beth

“I was blessed enough to have the magical moment that all people hope for,” said Beth. “I met Ben, and it was like we’d been waiting for each other our entire lives.” 

By Meghan McCarthy 

A University of Pennsylvania-led research study suggests that a rare genetic variant called TREM2 increases one’s risk of Alzheimer’s disease (AD) but also causes atypical symptoms. This finding could have a significant impact on how AD is diagnosed. 

Someone living with AD typically seeks out a diagnosis after reporting concerns about memory. But someone with the TREM2 variant is more likely to notice issues with memory later on in the disease course. Instead, they may first notice difficulties with language, vision, and mobility or changes to their personality.   

“We were able to demonstrate, with the largest brain autopsy study of cases with this genetic risk variant to date, that TREM2 variants are associated with these atypical Alzheimer’s disease symptoms,” said Edward Lee, MD, PhD, co-associate director of the University of Pennsylvania’s Alzheimer’s Disease Research Center.  

These findings have important implications for the way AD is diagnosed, as patients with TREM2 may be misdiagnosed with other neurodegenerative disease, said Kim Boram, MD, lead author of the study. 

Deia Schlosberg

By Meg McCarthy

When her father was diagnosed with a genetic form of frontotemporal dementia (FTD), Deia Schlosberg felt her only choice was to get genetic testing.  

An Emmy award-winning filmmaker, she has spent her career exposing the reality of climate change and advocating for environmental justice.  

Schlosberg is a truth teller. Seeking genetic counseling and testing was the path forward to finding her truth. 

“There was zero question for me,” said Schlosberg. “I wanted to find out.”  

By Meghan McCarthy 

The average African American is twice as likely as a white adult to develop dementia, yet is 35% less likely to be diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease and related dementias (ADRD). 

This disparity is a result of generations of mistreatment, mistrust, and discrimination. It serves as one of many examples which illustrate the need for change within the ADRD space.  

For Victor Ekuta, a 2022 Penn Memory Center (PMC) Clark Scholar, personal experience with such discrimination launched a professional passion for health equity. 

By Meghan McCarthy and Cait Kearney

The Penn Memory Center’s (PMC) popular companionship program, Time Together, previously known as Time Out, received funding that will soon make the in-home program available to older adults in Philadelphia.

PMC received this federal funding through the 2022 Community Care Corps Grant.

“We are pleased to make this award to the Penn Memory Center,” said Paul Weiss, president of The Oasis Institute, which administers Community Care Corps. “Their excellent intergenerational model was chosen over other outstanding programs across the country.”

By Meghan McCarthy

(Left to right – top row) Crystalle Hutchins, Sebleh Alfa, Training Coordinator Xandria West, Alzheimer’s Disease Center Administrator Kathy Jedrziewski, Alexis Visco, La’cendria Pulley, Devon Lawson, Laura Agyemang (Bottom row) Asa Sam, Abdul-Izzaz Niangane

Asa Sam has spent only about two months with the Penn Memory Center (PMC), but the experience has made an impact on the rest of her professional life.  

“I can faithfully say that PMC has already impacted my future,” said Sam, a 2022 Summer Scholar. “Being a part of this program was a way to verify and solidify my career path of neurosurgery, while also keeping my mind open to multiple paths in geriatrics and remaining engaged in Alzheimer’s research.” 

This past summer, six undergraduate students joined PMC for mentorship, clinical shadowing, and exposure to career options within the field of Alzheimer’s disease and related dementias (ADRD). 

The program invites undergraduate and graduate students who identify as Black or African American to apply, and encourages previous students to return if interested.