Albert Einstein College of Medicine
Scientific environment: Albert Einstein College of Medicine (AECOM), a national leader in medical education, basic research, and clinical practice located in Bronx, New York, will lead the proposed project. The faculty of AECOM has a strong record of extramurally funded research activities. In fact, seven Einstein programs have been designated NIH “Centers of Excellence,” including established centers in diabetes, cancer, liver disease, brain research, AIDS, sickle cell disease, and an initiative to reduce and eliminate ethnic and racial health disparities.
Division of Cognitive & Motor Aging (DCMA) at Albert Einstein College of Medicine
The DCMA is directed by Joe Verghese, MBBS, a Professor of Neurology and Medicine at AECOM and an expert in the field of mobility. Dr. Verghese is also Chief of the Division of Geriatrics, Montefiore Medical center, Bronx, NY. The DCMA is strongly committed to fostering aging research within AECOM, developing research careers, and providing a unique opportunity to examine the intersection of cognitive and motor function vis-à-vis aging, dementia, and disease affecting the central nervous system. The DCMA is affiliated with the Center for the Aging Brain, a New York State designated Center of Excellence in Alzheimer’s disease, also directed by Dr. Verghese. The Geriatric unit provides a central hub for clinical research with older adults as well as a teaching opportunity for students from all disciplines with an interest in geriatric care.
DCMA Clinical Research Team: The multidisciplinary DCMA faculty is currently comprised of Dr. Verghese (Neurology), Dr. Ambrose (Rehabilitation Medicine), Ms. Ayers (Clinical Trial Management), Dr. Blumen (Neuroimaging), Dr. Ceide (Geriatric Psychiatry), Dr. De Sanctis (Neurophysiology), Dr. George (Geriatrics), Dr. Mahoney (Multisensory Integration & Neuropsychology), and Dr. Wang (Statistics), along with research technicians, residents, fellows, post-doctoral fellows, medical and graduate students enrolled in ongoing research projects and clinical electives.
Laboratory: The DCMA is located in the Van Etten Building at AECOM in Bronx, NY. The DCMA suite occupies 5,000 square feet, and includes offices for study personnel; a cognitive neuroscience laboratory; a gait laboratory which houses a twenty-foot GAITRite instrumented walkway that measures quantitative gait variables; a neuroimaging laboratory where functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRs) studies are conducted while participants walk continuously on a second customized instrumented walkway; a multisensory integration laboratory where experimental studies are conducted; and a physical intervention room with exercise and balance equipment as well as a large cognitive remediation room with eight computers. Two separate testing rooms (300 sq. ft.) are available for study testing and data entry. The site also includes multiple testing rooms for interviews and neuropsychological assessments, conference rooms with projectors, as well as comfortable waiting rooms and lunchrooms for our participants. In addition a large multipurpose room is available for the intervention programs. Office space for the PI is provided in the DCMA facility with telecommunication options including audio and video conference calls, voice mail, and e-mail. Neuroimaging facilities are located close to our center, and offer state of the art imaging procedures including FMRI, DTI, and volumetric MRI.
The clinical research facility has computers equipped with zip drives, programs for word processing and statistical analysis that are used for testing, data analysis, and data storage. Additionally, direct access to the D. Samuel Gottesman Library at AECOM offers remote access to peer-reviewed journals and inter-library loans for journal articles that are not directly available at our facility.