Autumn 2020 E-Newsletter

In This Issue:

• Alzheimer’s Research and Education for the L.A. Community
• Telemedicine for Cognitive Care
• Walk4Alz Sponsoring Alzheimer’s Los Angeles
• New Addition to the Easton Center
• Thank You for Making a Difference!
• Clinical Research Opportunities
• Upcoming Events

The Mary S. Easton Center for Alzheimer’s Disease Research at UCLA has very active teams working on basic research, drug discovery, biomarkers for early diagnosis and clinical activity including clinical trials, cognitive testing, and patient care.

Alzheimer’s Research and Education for the L.A. Community

By: Keith Vossel, MD, MSc

The Los Angeles community was captivated as the Lakers and Dodgers pulled out long awaited and well-deserved championships. Outdoor socially distanced broadcasts of these events popped up around the city. In these unprecedented and uncertain times, our close bond with familiar sporting events helps promote a strong sense of community and connectedness. As Nelson Mandela noted, “Sport has the power to change the world. It has the power to inspire. It has the power to unite people in a way that little else does.”

As we celebrate these victories, however, we must also acknowledge that our community continues to suffer from large disparities and inequalities, especially in our healthcare. With social and racial justice at the forefront of our mission, and recognizing L.A.’s painful history of racism and division, the UCLA Easton Center strives to foster connectedness and inclusivity within our community. The Easton Center was honored to be selected to receive a highly competitive award to accelerate recruitment from Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC) populations into the Alzheimer’s Disease Neuroimaging Initiative (ADNI). ADNI is a multi-center NIH-sponsored program that utilizes biomarkers and clinical measures to better understand dementia as well as healthy aging. We achieved this award due to the outstanding efforts of the Kagan Clinical Trials team including Dr. Sarah Kremen, Dr. Maryam Beigi, and Celine Ossinalde. This award reflects the high value the ADNI Diversity Taskforce places on serving Los Angeles’ vibrant and diverse community and UCLA’s commitment to our community. We are excited for this new initiative which will give us a deeper understanding of dementia in BIPOC populations.
 

Currently, we have several approaches to engaging with the community:

1) We partnered with OPICA Adult Day Services and Always Best Care South Bay to hold an inaugural session of Memory Matters. Memory Matters is an evidence-informed program for people with early memory loss and features expert speakers covering clinical research updates, legal/financial planning, lifestyle strategies to

Continue reading the article.