Class Colloquium #12: Losing my mind … and my good health
Editors Note: Something on the order of half of us will deal with dementia — either our own or our spouse’s. Our Class Secretary, Dr. Art Segal, and Class Council member Dr. Ken Davis have arranged for two experts to join us for a close look at the disease, what can be done to forestall or attenuate it and what else we should know. Their presentation will be followed by your questions and candid conversation.
Sondheim’s song, Losing My Mind, touches upon the tragic and bittersweet loss of love, purposefulness, and mental acuity — central elements of a meaningful life. Our 12th Class Colloquium will move beyond theatrical metaphors to provide state-of-the-art scientific knowledge, informed discussion, substantive answers, and concrete medical advice regarding dementia and other degenerative conditions septuagenarians need to know about.
A significant number of us may have to deal with Alzheimer’s Disease (AD), either personally or caring for a spouse or other loved one. AD and other neurodegenerative diseases will, unfortunately, be a fact of life … and ultimately of death … for some of us.
Fortunately, we have class leaders who’ve recruited two nationally prominent experts to discuss the issues with us. They’ve been asked to speak briefly on your likely questions about AD and what, if anything, you can do to forestall it or care for those suffering from it. For example, some classmates have asked what they need to do in terms of planning for assisted living, nursing or palliative care during the progression of possible diseases they face. But mostly, we’ll listen to these experts, and after their opening remarks, we’ll open the floor for questions.
Please go ahead and register for the event and indicate questions you’d like to see explored.
Click to register for this event:
https://us06web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZMocumtqzwvHNPvrxcGCVyAx96Zy7lkG316
After registering, you will receive a confirmation by email containing information about joining the zoom meeting.
We will start promptly, so please JOIN the meeting 5-10 minutes early.
I hope you can attend. Don’t forget to register and mark your calendars.
About The Speakers
Sam Gandy
Samuel Gandy Dr. Samuel Gandy, M.D., Ph.D., is Mt.Sinai Chair in Alzheimer’s Research and Professor of Neurology and Psychiatry, serving as Director of Cognitive and Behavioral Neurology. He is the Founder and Director of the Mt Sinai Center for Cognitive Health. He has served as Chair of the Advisory Council of the Alzheimer’s Association, and Director of Alzheimer’s drug discovery for the NIA. He has contributed to over 300 published papers, chapters and reviews. His lab’s research has been cited in over 5000 publications. His work on neurological imaging and fluid bio-markers has been central to state-of-the-art research on traumatic head injury such as CTE( chronic traumatic encephalopathy ) and PTSD ( World Trade Center Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder). In his spare time he attends at over 8 NYC area hospitals, where he focuses upon neurodegenerative diseases and dementia in the geriatric population, as well as concussion and traumatic brain injury.
Sean Morrison
R. Sean Morrison R. Sean Morrison, M.D. is Director of the National Palliative Care Research Center, Vice-Chair for Research at the Brookdale Department of Geriatrics and Palliative Medicine, Director of Research at the Hertzberg Palliative Care Institute and Hermann Merkin Professor of Palliative Care at the Mount Sinai School of Medicine, New York.Dr. Morrison’s research focuses on decision-making at the end of life, pain and symptom management in high-risk and medically underserved populations, and quality measures in palliative care. He has received numerous awards for his research in geriatrics and palliative care and has been named a Brookdale National Fellow, an Open Society Institute Project on Death in America Faculty Scholar and an American Federation for Aging Research Paul Beeson Faculty Scholar. He is an active clinician who cares for healthy older adults and those with serious illness.
Dr. Morrison received his M.D. from the University of Chicago Pritzker School of Medicine, completed residency training in Internal Medicine at the New York Hospital Cornell Medical Center, and completed fellowship training in geriatrics at the Mount Sinai School of Medicine. He joined the faculty at Mount Sinai in 1996.
Dr. Morrison is Professor and Chairman of the Brookdale Department of Geriatrics and Palliative Medicine, at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mt. Sinai.