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Penn Memory Center Founding Director Christopher M. Clark, MD, (top row, second from right) is added to the Upper Dublin High School Alumni Hall of Fame on March 24, 2017.

The late Christopher M. Clark, MD, founding director of the Penn Memory Center and Upper Dublin High School alumnus, was inducted into his alma mater’s Alumni Hall of Fame March 24.

Though most honored alumni are recognized for athletic accomplishments, Clark was among the first inductees honored in the new category of Medicine, Science and Technology for his outstanding work in the medical profession.

Two researchers called more attention to the personal and social effects of risk-awareness and the expectation of stigma in pre-clinical Alzheimer’s disease (AD) in the April edition of The Lancet Psychiatry, a U.K.-based medical journal. 

In an address to the Securities Industry Institute (SII) last month, Dr. Jason Karlawish told an audience of financial service industry professionals that they could be the first to notice a client’s developing cognitive impairment. 

From left: Director for Diversity in Research and Education Tigist Hailu, Research Coordinator Kristin Harkins, Research Coordinator Nayoung Kim, Research Coordinator Arun Pilania, Psychometrist Laura Saad, Assistant Director of Care Programs Alison Lynn, Senior Research Coordinator Martha Combs, Research Coordinator Grace Stockbower, and Research Coordinator Joe Harrison.

On a sunny Saturday morning, March 25, the Penn Memory Center welcomed research participants and study partners to the Inn at Penn for the annual Research Partner Thank You Breakfast.

Early intervention may be the future of Alzheimer’s treatment, according to Newsweek’s recent cover story on the disease. The article called for proactive diagnosis and aggressive preventative treatments. This approach to drug development marks a major departure from the conventional focus, aimed at treating later stages of AD.

“I’m afraid that even by the stage of very mild dementia, you’ve already lost 70 percent of the key neurons in the memory regions of the brain. Ultimately, we need to start treating people before there are symptoms,” Brigham and Women’s Hospital’s Dr. Reisa Sperling, director of the Center for Alzheimer’s Research and Treatment, told Newsweek.

Ralston Wellness is pleased to present its newest series, “The Fine Art of Aging Creatively.” The weekly art class will take place each Thursday during the 10 weeks between April 6 and June 8. This free program welcomes individuals over the age of 60. The series will demonstrate techniques designed for those suffering from manual arthritis.

Artist and historian Cassandra Stancil Gunkel will lead the class.

Antipsychotics are ineffective in improving distress-related delirium in palliative care, according to a recent article in Neurology Today. In fact, researchers found antipsychotics to be less helpful than non-pharmacological approaches, indicating a need for alternative management strategies in patient care.

Non-medicating strategies might include “providing one-on-one sitters with patients who are beginning to develop delirium,” Penn Memory Center Co-Director Dr. Jason Karalwish wrote in expert commentary. These sitters could be “someone who can redirect a patient who’s climbing out of bed and provide some personal attention and comfort,” Karlawish wrote.

“Think about a typical case of delirium where someone starts crying out, ‘Help me!’” Karlawish challenged. “Rather than say that’s a druggable moment, we should think about the meaning of the behavior. It might be distressing to see, but there’s a messiness to death that oftentimes is part of the meaning we take from experience. Maybe we should ask, “how can I help you?’”

Learn about approaches to end-of-life care at Neurology Today.

Pharmaceutical company Merck has discontinued its EPOCH study, originally scheduled to continue through July 2017.

EPOCH, which began in late 2012, sought to improve Alzheimer’s disease symptoms by slowing deposition of the beta-amyloid plaques characteristic of AD. The first step in beta-amyloid production requires a BACE enzyme. This study tested verubecestat, an inhibitor of one such BACE enzyme, in patients with mild-to-moderate Alzheimer’s disease.

Tigist Hailu, MPH, has been named to the new Penn Memory Center position of Director for Diversity in Research and Education.

Her appointment speaks to PMC’s mission to increase the diversity of clinicians and researchers in the field of aging research, as well as to ensure that patient engagement reflects the diverse communities affected by age-related cognitive disease. Hailu will continue to develop training initiatives for clinicians and researchers, as well as for students through programs such as the Minority Scholars Program in Aging Research and the Public Health Dimensions of Cognitive Aging Certificate Program.

The Philadelphia Sports Writers Association recently presented Bill Lyon, sportswriter emeritus for the Philadelphia Inquirer, with its “Most Courageous Award.”

The honor came not for Lyon’s impressive sports-writing portfolio, but rather for a recent series documenting his personal struggle with Alzheimer’s disease.

In his writing, Lyon, 79, discusses his joint effort with Dr. Jason Karlawish and the Penn Memory Center tackle “Al,” his nickname for Alzheimer’s disease.

Click here to read more about the award.