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By Cait Kearney

Melissa Johnston Esparza is moving on from the Penn Memory Center (PMC) after three years as a clinical research coordinator.  

“PMC is a wonderful organization, and having been a part of helping advance its mission has been a rewarding experience I will cherish forever,” Johnston Esparza said.  

Johnston Esparza joined PMC as a clinical research coordinator for the REVEAL-SCAN Study (Risk Evaluation and Education of Alzheimer’s Disease: The Study of Communicating Amyloid Neuroimaging), a project investigating the impact of learning one’s personal risk of having Alzheimer’s disease on thinking and health behaviors. 

“Melissa is a stellar coordinator. She stepped into a study that was in distress and quickly turned it around and into a great scientific success,” said Jason Karlawish, MD, co-director of PMC and co-principal investigator of the REVEAL-SCAN Study. 

In JAMA Network Medical News, Dr. Jason Karlawish expressed his concern that Aduhelm’s approval will have a negative impact on the enrollment of future clinical trials.

By Cait Kearney

Matthew Ferrara, MS Ed., is leaving the Penn Memory Center (PMC) after three years as a clinical research coordinator.  

“Matt has been an absolute delight to work with in his time here at the PMC,” said PMC Co-Director David Wolk, MD, “Matt will be missed by our faculty, staff, and research participants.” 

Ferrara joined PMC in 2018 as a coordinator for PMC’s largest study — the Aging Brain Cohort (ABC) Study. Data collected through the ABC Study is used by scientists across the nation and the world to research Alzheimer’s disease and life-long brain health. 

“He displayed a remarkable dedication to the success of the ABC study to the benefit of our research participants and the numerous studies that depend on these data,” Dr. Wolk said.  

In a recent Vox article, assistant director of social work Alison Lynn, MSW, PMC researcher Emily Largent, PhD, JD, RN, and PMC co-director Jason Karlwish, MD, offered insight into the uncertainties people with an Alzheimer’s disease diagnosis and their caregivers may face and discussed the added stress they may feel from the controversy around Aduhelm. (Image: Christina Animashaun/Vox)

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has revised its recommendation of who should receive Aduhelm, the controversial Alzheimer’s disease drug approved by the FDA last month.

The original label stated the treatment was for anyone with Alzheimer’s disease, encompassing six million Americans. Under the new label, the FDA recommends Aduhelm to “patients with mild cognitive impairment or mild dementia stage of disease,” reflecting the population tested in clinical trials and cutting the number of eligible Americans to about two million.

“The revision of this label is yet another piece of evidence that should cause the American public to be concerned about how FDA is practicing its regulatory science,” PMC co-director Dr. Jason Karlawish told the New York Times.

Dr. Jason Karlawish, co-director of PMC, was quoted by The Washington Post regarding the negative potential consequences of the Food and Drug Administration’s approval of Aduhelm.

“Companies are companies, I can’t fault them for doing what companies do, but we have now unleashed drugs that we are not sure what the benefits are, and that could have enormous consequences,” said Dr. Jason Karlawish.