Current Status, UW MBWC During COVID-19
- The UW Memory and Brain Wellness Clinic at Harborview remains open for the needs of our patients, including visits by phone, video conference, or in person. If you have an upcoming appointment, you will be contacted beforehand to explore what visit format is best.
- The UW Alzheimer’s Disease Research Center is still currently suspending in-person visits for the Clinical Core longitudinal study and most clinical trial visits. The research team is conducting telephone interviews with currently enrolled participants. If you have questions or concerns, please email the research team at uwadrc@uw.edu or call 206-744-0588.
- MBWC Community Programs and Events are still happening virtually, while in-person programs are on hold. Join us in July online, by phone, or by video, for a variety of support, education and engagement opportunities.
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 Honoring Local Efforts to Help African American Communities Overcome the Heavier Burden of Alzheimer's Disease.
It's Alzheimer’s and Brain Awareness Month, and the UW Memory and Brain Wellness Center, in partnership with the UW ADRC, are honoring local efforts to help African Americans overcome the disproportionate burden of Alzheimer's.
“Hope for the Heart of Our Community”: We celebrate Karen Winston, MSW, a champion for equity in the areas of dementia and brain health.
Healing Hearts through the Power of Music: We celebrate Pastor Patrinell “Pat” Wright for extending joy to the memory loss community through song.
A Voice For Seattle’s Seniors: We celebrate Brenda Charles-Edwards, a local businesswoman, senior advocate, and Dementia Champion.
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 Bringing Together a "Dream Team": Allen Institute, UW Medicine ADRC, and Kaiser Permanente Launch New Alzheimer’s Collaboration
Listen to ADRC researchers explain the goals of a new consortium to identify the cells that are involved in the process that leads to Alzheimer's or help protect against it. The project is funded by a new five-year $40.5 million grant from the NIA. All the data will be freely available to the scientific community.
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ADRC Awards for New Ideas in Alzheimer’s Research
Learn about the newly funded 2020-2021 ADRC Development Projects. These awards encourage investigators to use ADRC resources to advance the understanding, diagnosis, or treatment of Alzheimer’s disease!
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Adapting Interventions & Improving Outcomes for Latino Caregivers Q&A with UW's Dr. Maggie Ramirez - AlzWA blog
The UW MBWC/ADRC congratulates Dr. Maggie Ramirez, PhD, on gaining funding from the Alzheimer’s Association’s International Research Grant Program to conduct “Cultural Adaptation of a Behavioral Intervention for Latino Caregivers". Here, the AlzWA team asks her some questions about this important research on how to best culturally adapt the STAR-Caregivers program for Latino caregivers. Dr. Maggie Ramirez is an Assistant Professor in the UW Department of Health Services, UW School of Public Health.
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Join the UW Memory and Brain Wellness Center in July for virtual support groups and community talks focused on ongoing coping in the midst of COVID-19. Participate online or by phone, with a free application called Zoom. Keep up-to-date with the program listings, or watch previous presentation recordings, on our website.
 VIRTUAL COFFEE CHATS for people with memory loss/dementia
10 - 11 a.m. every Tuesday in July
(July 7, 14, 21, 28)
Make a cup of coffee or tea, and come together for an informal social time with others living with memory loss or dementia. Facilitated by program manager Marigrace Becker. Space is limited; sign up by the day before. Join for just one session, or multiple.
Sign Up Here
VIRTUAL CAREGIVER FORUMS
10 - 11 a.m. every Monday in July (July 6, 13, 20, 27). Come together with other family caregivers to discuss caring for a loved one in this time of COVID-19. Make meaningful connections, offer mutual support, and discover strategies that work for others. Facilitated by clinic social worker Karen Clay. Space is limited to 20 participants; sign up by the day before. Join for just one session, or multiple.
COMMUNITY WELLNESS TALKS
1 - 1:45 p.m. every Wednesday in July. Join us for a brief presentation and Q&A on various topics related to "living well" in the midst of the COVID-19 outbreak. These talks are for people with memory loss, family caregivers, and the general public, and feature MBWC team members and community colleagues.
- Wednesday, July 1: “Safe and enjoyable physical fitness activities from home” with Cecilia Matta, senior fitness instructor and UW MBWC ADAPT program volunteer.
- Wednesday, July 8: “Making art together at home” with Cal Dobrzynski, MDes, designer and UW MBWC volunteer.
- Wednesday, July 15: “The genius of each day: Using your camera to make memories during COVID-19" with Tom Grabowski, MD, director of UW MBWC and photography enthusiast.
- Wednesday, July 22: “Musical activities you can do at home” with Shih-Yin Lin, MM, MPH, PhD, senior research scientist/project director, NYU Rory Meyers College of Nursing and former Music Therapist and MBWC advisory group member.
- Wednesday, July 29: “Preventing falls in people with dementia: What can we do together?” with Yuanjin Zhou, MSW, PhD Candidate at UW School of Social Work and MBWC advisory group member.
For more information, contact Marigrace Becker, 206-744-2190, mbecker1@uw.edu.
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Space Still Available: Register Here
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The Garden Discovery Walks Go Virtual!
A virtual adaptation of our popular nature program explores local gardens and demonstrates creative art activities, tailored for people living with memory loss and care partners. This program is offered in partnership with Seattle Parks and Recreation, with generous support from Family Resource Home Care.
The July 2020 virtual program will be available soon on the UW Memory and Brain Wellness Center's video channel. View all virtual Garden Discovery Walks.
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Register here.
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A variety of local organizations are offering virtual opportunities for people with memory loss and their families to stay active and connected - online, by video, or over the phone. Here are some highlights:
- Elderwise now offers parts of its adult day program experience online, with a 1-hour "MiniWise" program of discussion and movement, and a 1-hour "ArtWise" program of creative expression.
- The Alzheimer's Association offers a variety of education webinars in July, including topics like meaningful activities, legal and financial planning and caregiving during COVID-19.
- The Momentia website continues to list a variety of engagement opportunities for people with memory loss and their loved ones, including arts, music, dance, fitness, and more.
- Taproot Theatre offers "Z-Improv," a monthly Zoom-based theatre improv and imaginative play experience for people with memory loss and their families. Contact facilitator Pam Nolte.
- Music Mends Minds offers online sing-alongs Monday, Wednesday and Friday led by a music therapist.
- The King County Library System has a new older adults website with streaming video, audiobooks and activities.
- Seattle's Greenwood Senior Center offers a "social distanced sing-along," early stage memory loss support group, and has moved their early stage memory loss enrichment program temporarily online. Contact social worker Carin Mack, 206-230-0166.
- Dementia Support Northwest in Whatcom County offers online caregiver support groups and weekly check-ins.
Additional support options:
- The National Institute on Aging offers a free, 24-hour "Friendship Line" for older adults. Trained volunteers are available for conversation and emotional support by phone: 1-800-971-0016.
- The Alzheimer's Association's 24-Hour Helpline is answered by Master's level social workers who can provide resources and advice: 1-800-272-3900.
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Friday, July 17⋅9:00 – 10:30 am ADRC CPC Clinicopathological Correlation Conference [ZOOM]. Description:A presentation of case studies and discussion of new insights into the relationship between neuropathology, genetics, clinical disease manifestation. Call in details. For ZOOM link, please email Erica Melief at emelief@uw.edu or refer to listserv email.
NIA / National Association Webinars and Presentations
Wed. July 1, 8 - 9 am PT Research Centers Collaborative Network (RCCN) webinar: Resilience and Reserve: Defining, Refining, and Advancing Research in Aging. (Free) The webinar is organized by Wake Forest University School of Medicine and the American Federation for Aging Research, which co-manage the RCCN. The RCCN is funded by the NIA/ NIH under Award Number U24AG058556.
Details and Webinar Registration RSVP by June 29.
Fri. July 10, Tues. July 21, and Thurs. August 13 NIA Virtual Dementia Care, Caregiving, and Services Research Summit Virtual Meeting Series.
This series will include research presentations, panelist remarks, moderated discussion), and a presentation on the draft research gaps and opportunities. These draft gaps and opportunities, developed by the Summit Steering Committee with input from stakeholder groups and organized into six themes, are intended to identify important potential areas for future research in the fields of dementia care and caregiving. (Free)
Learn more and Register
Recordings of Recent Presentations
USCF Memory and Aging Center ‘Shelter-in-Place’ Series: The Challenge of Health Equity in Clinical Research: Towards a Quantifiable Science of Inclusion. Presenter: Jonathan Jackson, Phd, Founder and Executive Director of the Community Access, recruitment& Engagement (CARE) Research Center at MGH/Instructor in Neurology, Harvard Medical School. (Jun. 23, 2020)
Watch
NIA/NIH National Alzheimer’s Coordinating Center (NACC) Webinar: Social Determinants of Health.
Discussion led by Lisa Barnes, PhD, Rush University and Amy Kind, MD, PhD, University of Wisconsin (June 26, 2020. View on the NACC website.
Beyond the UW ADRC
Thurs. July 2, 12 - 1 pm PT Alzheimer's Afternoons Seminar Series: Single nuclear RNA Sequencing reveals microglia diversity associated with cognitive resilience in the AD-BXD mouse model of human AD
Speaker: Catherine Kaczorowski, PhD. Associate Prof. Evnin Family Chair in AD Research, Jackson Laboratory, Bar Harbor, ME
Organizers: Lance Johnson, PhD, University of Kentucky and Rik van der Kant, PhD, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam
Details and Zoom link
Thurs. July 2, 8 - 9 am PT Brain's Resilience and Intelligence Networks (B.R.A.I.N.) Seminar Series: Cognitive Reserve: Findings from a British Birth Cohort
Speaker: Sarah-Naomi James PhD/LHA group, University College London
Organizer: Michael Ewers, PhD, Ludwig Maximilian University, Munich & German Center for Neurodegenerative Diseases (DZNE) Munich
Details and Zoom Link
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Awards
Learn about the newly funded 2020-2021 ADRC Development Projects. These awards encourage investigators to use ADRC resources to advance the understanding, diagnosis, or treatment of Alzheimer’s disease.
Congratulations to the awardees:
- Meredith Course, PhD. Postdoctoral Fellow, Division of Medical Genetics, UW Medicine. Project: Novel Transcripts of PSEN1 and PSEN2 in Familial and Sporadic Alzheimer Disease
- Deidre Jansson, MSc, PhD. Senior Postdoctoral Fellow, Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, UW Medicine Project: Defining the cellular and transcriptomics architecture of the choroid plexus in Alzheimer's disease: a pilot study
- Elizabeth Rhea, PhD. Research Biologist, VA Puget Sound Health Care System/ Research Assistant Professor, UW Division of Gerontology: Project: Soluble insulin receptor levels in Alzheimer's disease
NIA Featured Research
Funding & Educational Opportunities
Digital Technology for Early Detection of Alzheimer’s Disease and Related Dementias On April 27, NIA hosted a virtual workshop on the use of neurotechnology in normal brain aging and AD/ADRD (PDF, 589K). If you are interested in health innovations using smart sensors and related technology, the NIA encourages you to apply for funding support. A Notice of Special Interest: Digital Technology for Early Detection of Alzheimer’s Disease and Related Dementias was released earlier this year, and the first application due date is July 9, 2020. Learn more.
Community Interventions to Address the Consequences of the COVID-19 Pandemic among Health Disparity and Vulnerable Populations (R01- Clinical Trial Optional)
This Funding Opportunity Announcement encourages applications to implement and evaluate community interventions testing 1) the impacts of mitigation strategies to prevent COVID-19 transmission in NIH-designated health disparity populations and other vulnerable groups; and 2) already implemented, new, or adapted interventions to address the adverse psychosocial, behavioral, and socioeconomic consequences of the pandemic on the health of these groups.
Research Resources.
*NEW* ADC Interest Group Listserv for Lewy Body Dementia
Subscribe to this and other ADC interest groups
PhenX Social Determinants of Health (SDOH) Assessments Collection - The PhenX Social Determinants of Health (SDOH) Assessments Collection, now available in the PhenX Toolkit, contains 19 new protocols which expand upon the previous SDOH collection to help measure upstream factors that shape behaviors and health outcomes. This collection provides a common currency for studying social determinants of health across public health research studies. The NIH is encouraging researchers to use this collection to examine the role of SDOH and the factors related to health inequities and enable effective interventions to reduce health disparities.
New open neuroscience data & tools of Allen Brain Map are now available from the Allen Institute for Brain Science.
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Our team is proud to announce that the National Institute on Aging has awarded the UW ADRC $15 million over five years to continue our federally supported research! The Center was founded in 1985.
