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A panel of (from left) Felicia Greenfield, Dr. Dawn Mechanic-Hamilton, Dr. David Wolk and Dr. John Trojanowski, listen to an attendee’s question at the 2015 Research Partner Thank You Breakfast.

The University of Pennsylvania’s Alzheimer’s Disease Core Center (ADCC) has been awarded an estimated $8.8 million over five years from the National Institute on Aging (NIA) to continue its mission of investigating mechanisms, diagnostics, treatments and strategies for Alzheimer’s Disease (AD) and related dementias including Parkinson’s disease (PD), Parkinson’s disease dementia (PDD), Lewy Body dementia (LBD) and frontotemporal lobar degeneration (FTLD).

Discoveries from Penn’s ADCC have advanced understanding of the development and progression of AD and related neurodegenerative dementias over the past 25 years, leading to national and international recognition of its research accomplishments.

The post-WWII era known as the Cold War had tens of thousands of casualties between conflicts in Korea and Germany. But decades after “tear down this wall,” Cold War casualties are still being created daily out of adults with dementia and their caregivers, said Penn Memory Center Co-Director Dr. Jason Karlawish.

“They’re casualties because the healthcare system fails to deliver the care they need,” Karlawish wrote in a Forbes column. “Few physicians are trained in geriatrics and even fewer as Alzheimer’s doctors. Older adults with cognitive complaints are typically consigned to a hasty diagnosis and even when they receive a diagnosis, they find minimal guidance on how to live with the disease.

“Many patients don’t even receive a diagnosis. They come to my memory center taking the mildly effective Alzheimer’s drugs and asking whether they have Alzheimer’s, or it is dementia, or just aging, and what’s the difference between them? Their experiences kindle fear and even suspicion about the healthcare system, feelings reinforced when they go out into the world and experience their autonomy under siege. Assessments of their capacity to make life’s important decisions are reduced to a single score on a simple test of cognition. And the system expects them to pay the majority of the costs of their care.”

From left: Emma Rhodes, Kayci Vickers, Kara Rudisill, and Shalom Shapiro

The Penn Memory Center is pleased to welcome new neuropsychology trainees to the team for the 2016-2017 academic year. Shalom Shapiro, Emma Rhodes, Kayci Vickers, and Kara Rudisill started with PMC in July and will be training with Dr. Dawn Mechanic-Hamilton this year in neuropsychological assessment and intervention.

Bill Lyon, right, meets with his doctor, Penn Memory Center Co-Director Dr. Jason Karlawish.

After decades of Bill Lyon sharing his gift with the Philadelphia sports community, he’ll be thanked Wednesday evening in the middle of the Phillies infield.

The “sportswriter emeritus” will throw the ceremonial first pitch of Alzheimer’s Association Night at Citizen’s Bank Park.

Dr. Jason Karlawish, Penn Memory Center Co-Director, testifies to the Elder Justice Coordinating Council Wednesday, April 27, 2016. (Screenshot of livestream.)

Dr. Jason Karlawish, co-director of the Penn Memory Center, has been named a Senior Fellow by the Penn Center for Public Health Initiatives (CPHI).

The CPHI mission is “to educate and train public health leaders and practitioners, foster multi-disciplinary collaboration, and promote excellence in public health research and community partnerships.” CPHI, currently under the direction of Dr. Jennifer Pinto-Martin, was founded in 2007.

As part of Karlawish’s three-year appointment, he will teach or guest lecture Master of Public Health (MPH) courses and mentor MPH students, in addition to participating in CPHI symposia and events.

Dr. Jason Karlawish, co-director the Penn Memory Center and founder of the concept of “whealthcare” for older adults, will join an international council protecting senior investors.

The Advisory Council to the Seniors and Diminished Capacity Committee of the North American Securities Administrators Association (NASSA) invited Karlawish to join in July. One of the top priorities of the committee — comprised of experts in the fields of government, business, senior advocacy, law, medicine, and academia — is to protect senior investors.

“It is our goal to fully consider and develop tools for use by regulators, industry, and investors to better protect senior investors and individuals suffering from diminished capacity,” NASAA President Judith Shaw and Committee Chair Lynne Egan wrote in a statement. “[Karlawish’s] participation in the Advisory Council is a significant step towards that goal.”

The Penn Memory Center is now enrolling for its fall session of its psycho-educational Caregiver Class for those caring for a family member or other loved one with dementia. And, for the first time, a separate class will be offered exclusively for those caring for a spouse.

Caregivers of people with Alzheimer’s disease or other dementia may experience feelings of sadness, anger, confusion, hopelessness, or frustration. This course is designed help caregivers develop skills to better help their loved one – and themselves – cope with the many changes of living with dementia.

Warning: This event is at capacity. Any future RSVPs will be placed on a waiting list.

Please join us for a special Memory Café night at the Penn Museum.

At this free event, friends of the Penn Memory Center are invited to socialize and handle touchable artifacts from the museum and join a gallery tour. The evening will conclude with the sounds of Afro-Cuban and West African drumming by Leana Song.

Time: 5:30 to 8 p.m.

Date: Wednesday, August 10, 2016

Place: University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology

RSVP: Please RSVP by August 8, 2016 to Alison Lynn at alison.lynn@uphs.upenn.edu or 215-360-0257.

Parking: Parking is limited, but attendees may try to park in Lot 7 adjoining the museum for $21. Public transportation is encouraged if possible.

Mary Ellen McNish spent more than a decade “yelling constantly” at her husband, whose cognitive impairment drove her to “my wit’s end.”

“He went from being a Ph.D. economist to having difficulty figuring things out. It’s been a loss of inches,” she told The Philadelphia Inquirer.

But then she discovered the Penn Memory Center’s six-week psycho-educational class for people caring for loved ones with dementia.

Arlen Hlusko performs at the 2015 Penn Memory Center Research Partner Thank You Breakfast.

Cellist Arlen Hlusko, a graduate of Curtis Institute and recent apprentice with the New York Philharmonic, will be performing at Penn Memory Center’s (PMC) monthly Memory Café August 5.

This program, held from 10:30 a.m. to noon each month at Christ Church Neighborhood House in Old City, is exclusively for people with memory problems, including Alzheimer’s disease, and their partners/families. Please RSVP by contacting Alison Lynn at alison.lynn@uphs.upenn.edu.