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By Joyce Lee

I don’t have Alzheimer’s, at least not yet, but when I do, will you still read what I have to say?

This is the question posed in the latest Forbes column by Dr. Jason Karlawish, co-director of the Penn Memory Center.

What he’s getting at is the pervasive stigma that surrounds the disease. A stigma that also “spills over” to the families and caregivers of those with the disease. A stigma that can lower the quality of life of patients with the disease, that can prevent them from coming into memory centers like PMC to get diagnosed or participate in research.

This stigma will change, one way or another, Dr. Karlawish writes, for the way we diagnose Alzheimer’s disease is changing. And the definition of Alzheimer’s disease is shifting.

Dr. Jason Karlawish addresses the Securities Industry Institute at The Wharton School. (Photo by SIFMA.)

By Joyce Lee

Dr. Jason Karlawish, co-director of the Penn Memory Center, challenged financial professionals to act to prevent elder financial abuse at the recent Securities Industry Institute (SII) conference hosted at the Wharton School.

The financial industry is poised at the front line of detection and prevention of financial troubles brought on by aging and by neurodegenerative disease and should take action to protect the wealth and health of their clients, he said.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OYuacL1AfR4

The Imaging Dementia—Evidence for Amyloid Scanning (IDEAS) Study, the largest ongoing study in dementia research investigating the use of amyloid PET scans at sites across the nation including the Penn Memory Center, closed enrollment in December ahead of schedule.

An initiative led by the Alzheimer’s Association, the goal of the IDEAS study is to provide amyloid PET scans to Medicare beneficiaries, in order to evaluate the impact of these scans on the medical management of patients whose cause of dementia or cognitive impairment is still unknown.

Maria C. Carrillo, Ph.D., Alzheimer’s Association Chief Science Officer; Shana Stites, Psy.D., Penn Memory Center Scholar, and Heather Snyder, Ph.D., Senior Director of Medical & Scientific Relations at the Alzheimer’s Association

by Joyce Lee

Shana Stites, Psy.D., a Penn Memory Center Scholar, has been awarded the Dale Schenk Alzheimer’s Association Research Roundtable Grant Award. Dr. Stites is a clinical psychologist and researcher studying the experience of living with a biomarker-based diagnosis of Alzheimer’s disease.

Advances in Alzheimer’s research, such as ApoE4 gene and beta-amyloid biomarker testing, are identifying persons at risk for developing Alzheimer’s disease dementia. These advances in defining the “preclinical” stages of the disease are opportunities to discover therapies to slow or prevent the onset of clinical disease. These same advances also present challenges to patients, their families and society.

“The Alzheimer’s Association is pleased to recognize Dr. Shana Stites’ exceptional work with the Dale Schenk Alzheimer’s Association Research Roundtable Grant Award,” said Heather M. Snyder, Ph.D., Senior Director of Medical and Scientific Operations at the Alzheimer’s Association. “As the field moves toward earlier detection of Alzheimer’s, Dr. Stites’ research will help inform changes in policies and practices for interventions designed to improve the quality of life of persons who have been identified as being at risk for Alzheimer’s but who have not yet developed symptoms.”

A snapshot from a Penn Memory Center Memory Café event was recently awarded a second-place prize by Dementia Friendly America.

July’s Memory Café featured a drum circle facilitated by drummer Deke Kincade of Deke Kincade Rhythm, and the award-winning photo captures patients and caregivers in the PMC community gathered in a drum circle to create rhythm and music. Chloe Elmer, then an editorial assistant with PMC, took the photo.

The photo won second place at Dementia Friendly America’s Living Well with Dementia in the Community Photo Contest, with submissions aiming to display the diversity and support within the community for those living with dementia and their care partners. Our picture along with the other winning photos can be found on the Dementia Friendly America home page banner.

Join us for Memory Café this coming Friday, March 2 featuring an interactive exhibit on Civil War medicine by the Mütter Museum.

March Memory Café
Friday, March 2 | 10:30 a.m. to noon
Christ Church Neighborhood House
20 N. American Street
Philadelphia, PA 19106

RSVP: alison.lynn@uphs.upenn.edu

The Mütter Museum is a museum of medical history located in Center City that features preserved collections of anatomical specimens, models, and medical instruments. One of its aims is to help the public understand the mysteries and beauty of the human body and to appreciate the history of diagnosis and treatment of disease.

The museum is part of The College of Physicians of Philadelphia, one of the oldest professional medical organizations in the country, and is named after Thomas Dent Mütter, MD, physician, professor, and Fellow of the College who bequeathed his entire teaching collection and a substantial endowment to the College in 1858. Features of the collection include the brain of Albert Einstein and the jaw tumor of President Grover Cleveland.

Felicia Greenfield, LCSW, Executive Director of the Penn Memory Center (Photos by Eric Sucar)

By Julie McWilliams
University Communications

At the Penn Geriatric Medicine practice, Shauniqua Key met with a woman recently diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease. The patient was accompanied by a friend of 20-plus years, but she no longer recognized her friend.

“The patient was a former health care worker, so being diagnosed with Alzheimer’s was especially difficult to cope with. She was very scared and disoriented, burst into tears, and asked who this person was,” Key says. “It was very hard on the caregiver, who expressed the burden of emotional stress and strain. We offered her individual counseling.”

Key is one of six graduate students from the School of Social Policy & Practice (SP2) interning this academic year at Penn Medicine. There, the SP2 students help clients and caregivers work through the sometimes overwhelming challenges that come with memory loss and, in some cases, other neurological or physical impairments.

Executive Director Felicia Greenfield discusses the Penn Memory Center’s Caring for the Caregiver class with PMC staff members.

By Joyce Lee

Felicia Greenfield, LCSW, has been named Executive Director of the Penn Memory Center.

Working alongside PMC Co-Directors Dr. Jason Karlawish and Dr. David Wolk, she will optimize clinical care and research through developing new and enhancing existing programs for patients and family caregivers.

“Felicia has been a major force in all that the Penn Memory Center does, playing integral roles in patient and family care and in our research mission,” Dr. Wolk said. “Her dedication to her work and the many families who suffer with Alzheimer’s disease and other dementias is inspiring to all of us. We look forward to collaborating with her to continue to move the Penn Memory Center forward as an example for the field.”

Please join us in saying farewell to Clinical Research Coordinator Joe Harrison, who has been at Penn Memory Center since 2016. Harrison will be moving to the Nudge Unit at Penn Medicine while continuing to pursue his Master’s degree in Behavioral and Decision Sciences at Penn. At PMC, Harrison coordinated the REVEAL-SCAN study, which looks at the impact of amyloid PET scan results and personalized risk assessments of developing Alzheimer’s disease on individuals’ health behaviors and habits over time.

Harrison also worked with the NACC study, which follows participants with mild cognitive impairment, Alzheimer’s disease dementia or related dementia, and normal cognition longitudinally and tracks brain imaging and biomarker data to better understand links between clinical evaluation and brain changes associated with Alzheimer’s disease and related dementia.

REVEAL-SCAN study responsibilities will be covered by Clinical Research Coordinator Grace Stockbower and Research Coordinator Benjamin Bear. NACC study responsibilities will be covered by Research Specialist Jacqueline Lane and new Clinical Research Coordinator Matthew Ferrara.

*** Update: Registration is now closed for this event. ***

Join the Penn Memory Center for a free Writing Workshop led by David Marchino of the Kelly Writers House.

Writing Workshop for Caregivers
Saturday, March 17
1:30 to 4:30 p.m.
241 Ralston House 

If interested, please RSVP to Alison Lynn at alison.lynn@uphs.upenn.edu by March 9. Attendance will be capped at 15.