Penn Memory Center

An Alzheimer's Disease Research Center

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Finding beauty in what remains

Editor’s Note: PMC patient Carl Duzen has developed a unique hobby since being diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease. He and his wife, Susan Jewett, have turned the hobby into a gallery exhibition entitled, “Carl Duzen: Copper // Denying Dementia Its Due,” now open through August 29 at the Main Line Art Center in Haverford. A reception will be held Wednesday, August 9 from 5:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m., and is open to the public.

 

By Chloe Elmer

On a rainy Tuesday, Carl Duzen pulls open the garage door to his Havertown home as his wife, Susan Jewett, watches from the dry kitchen.

He goes inside, dives into his toolbox — “he loves his tools,” Susan says — and finds a screwdriver. An old clunker of a television is positioned under the garage’s main light, and Carl starts unscrewing, pulling off the back and exposing the ‘tube.’

The TV, one of those old cathode ray tube sets, was long ago considered obsolete by a neighbor, but Carl sees something valuable, beautiful in the discarded piece of old technology.

A scientist by training, Carl has taken to alchemy in the last two years, turning what others call junk into works of art.

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Petrovsky defends dissertation on relationship of music, MCI

Dr. Darina Petrovsky, center, poses with Drs. Dawn Mechanic-Hamilton (left) and Roy Hamilton.

Darina Petrovsky, a former doctoral student in the University of Pennsylvania School of Nursing, has successfully defended her dissertation.

“The Relationship of Musical Abilities with Cognition and Neurodegenerative Pathology in Older Adults with Mild Cognitive Impairment” (Dissertation Chair: Dr. Pamela Cacchione, PhD, CRNP, BC, FAAN) addresses whether music may help older adult with cognitive impairment improve their well-being and cognition. 

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Karlawish: ‘We’re not going to drug our way out’ of Alzheimer’s disease

Following several failed trials, what is the way forward in Alzheimer’s disease? Learning from mistakes and focusing on prevention, answers Jason Karlawish, MD, professor of medicine, medical ethics and health policy, and neurology at the University of Pennsylvania Perelman School of Medicine and co-director of the Penn Memory Center, in this exclusive MedPage Today video.

“Prevention is a tall order. If taken literally, it means you take a treatment before you have any signs or symptoms of the disease and the treatment prevents you from ever developing those signs and symptoms,” said Karlawish. “Will we achieve that by 2025 in Alzheimer’s? I think it’s unlikely.”

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Memory Café on summer break, will return September 1

Memory Café is taking a summer vacation.

The monthly pop-up café for the Penn Memory Center community will return 10:30 a.m. to noon on Friday, September 1, at Christ Church Neighborhood House in Old City. There will be no café in August.

This program is exclusively for people with memory problems, including Alzheimer’s disease, and their partners/families.

Learn more about Memory Café.

Take a peek at our July Café featuring Deke Kincade.

Karlawish challenges corporations to allow employee participation in Alzheimer’s research

By Chloe Elmer

The top goal of the nation’s Alzheimer’s plan is to prevent and effectively treat Alzheimer’s disease by 2025. For that to happen, the nation’s corporate leaders will need to help.

Penn Memory Center Co-Director Dr. Jason Karlawish and Joshua Grill, an associate professor University of California, Irvine, called on corporate America in a recent Fobes column to make policy changes.

At PMC and across the nation, most Alzheimer’s research requires a study partner, who plays a key role both in clinic visits and at home. And though most caregivers are adult children, study partners tend to be the spouses of participants. Often, these caregivers who are not study partners are adult children who are in the midst of their careers, saving money for their own futures, and cannot afford to take the necessary time off to participate in research.

Employers dedicated to finding effective treatments for Alzheimer’s disease should offer paid time off for their employees participating in Alzheimer’s research with a family member, Karlawish and Grill write. The authors specifically call on members of the Global CEO Initiative on Alzheimer’s Disease, including Bank of America, AARP, Pfizer, GE and United Healthcare, among others, to “lead the charge in this important initiative.” They also outline ways in which researchers, policymakers, and study sponsors can step up.

Read the whole column here.

Updates on PMC Neuropsychology practicum students

PMC Neuropsychology practicum students (from left): Shalom Shapiro, Psy.D., Kara Rudisill, MS, Emma Rhodes, MS, and Kayci Vickers, MS.

Shalom Shapiro, Psy.D., completed his pre-doctoral internship at the Penn Memory Center in June and received his doctoral degree from Widener University in Clinical Psychology.Throughout this past year, Dr. Shapiro performed neuropsychological assessments with clinical and research patients at PMC and co-facilitated groups in Cognitive Fitness Program. Shalom is interested in the relationship between personality and neuropsychological functioning, as well as in the integration of neuropsychological assessment and psychotherapy.

Kara Rudisill, MS completed her year-long practicum training at PMC in June. She also performed neuropsychological assessments with clinical and research patients under the supervision of Dr. Dawn Mechanic-Hamilton, Ph.D. Kara is a doctoral student in clinical psychology at Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine (PCOM). Prior to PMC, Kara completed neuropsychological practicum placements at The Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia and the Center for Brief Therapy at PCOM. She will be moving on to expand her training in psychotherapy and pediatric neuropsychology next year.

Kayci Vickers, MS and Emma Rhodes, MA recently completed their year-long advanced neuropsychology practicum, which included conducting comprehensive neuropsychological exams and co-facilitating Cognitive Fitness groups.

Emma, a doctoral student in clinical psychology, specializing in neuropsychology at Temple University, will be remaining at PMC through the summer. Emma earned an MA in counseling psychology from Northwestern University. Her research interests include the influence of sociocultural and health factors on cognitive aging, as well as executive dysfunction in older adults.

Kayci will return in the fall to continue to support neuropsychological testing services in the PMC. She is a doctoral student at Drexel University studying clinical psychology, with a focus in neuropsychology. Her research has focused on consistency in decision making in adult populations and rehabilitation techniques to regain cognitive functioning after brain injury. Kayci earned her master’s degree in clinical psychology from Drexel University and her bachelor’s degree in behavioral neuroscience at the University of Kansas.

In addition to her clinical work, Kayci also prepared and submitted a manuscript using ADCC cohort data and Emma will begin data collection for her dissertation project in the coming months.In the future, she hopes to continue this line of research with the goal of improving rehabilitation outcomes and treatment recommendations for individuals experiencing cognitive decline.

Dr. Dawn Mechanic-Hamilton, Ph.D., on the accomplishments of PMC’s four neuropsychology students: “Shalom, Kara, Kayci and Emma were a hard-working, flexible and innovative team. We thank them for their dedication to the PMC and their compassionate care of our patients.”

Tigist Hailu, Director of Diversity in Research and Education at PMC, moves to CHOP

Please join us in saying farewell to Tigist Hailu, who has been the Director of Diversity in Research and Education at the Penn Memory Center since January 2013. Tigist will be starting this week as a Clinical Research Program Manager in the radiology department of the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP). In this position, Tigist will be managing the clinical research in the radiology department and supporting radiology training in Ethiopia.

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House Appropriations Committee proposes significant increase in Alzheimer’s research funding for fiscal year 2018

By Chloe Elmer

The House Appropriations Committee released a proposed fiscal year 2018 Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education (LHHS) funding bill last week, giving Alzheimer’s research at the National Institutes of Health (NIH), a $400 million funding boost if signed into law.

This bill comes amidst the Alzheimer’s Association International Conference® 2017 (AAIC®) in London this week, where 5,000 of the world’s top Alzheimer’s and dementia researchers gather to network and discuss their research, findings, and theories in relation to Alzheimer’s disease, dementia, and other types of cognitive impairment.

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Fall 2017 dates for PMC Caregiver Class announced

By Chloe Elmer

Being a primary or even a part-time caregiver can be challenging and overwhelming at times, not only for the actual care of a patient, but for the well-being of the caregiver as well. Caregivers of people with Alzheimer’s disease or other dementia may experience feelings of sadness, anger, confusion, hopelessness, or frustration.

The Penn Memory Center holds a seven-week Psycho-educational Caregiver Class to help caregivers develop skills to better help their loved one – and themselves – cope with the many changes of living with dementia.

There are two separate sessions offered through PMC, and new dates have just been announced for the fall.

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