Dementia
Oscar M. Valderrama Torres
<p>Oscar M. Valderrama Torres, MD, is an attending physician at Montefiore Einstein and Assistant Professor, Medicine at our Albert Einstein College of Medicine. Dr. Valderrama provides geriatric and palliative care for home-bound older adults, leading a Geriatric Home Visit program. He focuses on outpatient preoperative assessment for patients admitted to the joint replacement center at Montefiore Wakefield. As a member of the Montefiore Einstein Center for the Aging Brain, Dr. Valderrama conducts comprehensive geriatric assessments for patients with cognitive complaints.</p><p>After earning his Doctor of Medicine at Cayetano Heredia University in Lima, Peru in 2008, Dr. Valderrama moved to the United States to continue his medical training. He completed a research fellowship at Moffitt Cancer Center's Genitourinary Oncology Program in 2014. He later completed his internal medicine residency at New York University Langone Health in 2021, followed by a geriatric fellowship at Montefiore Einstein in 2022.</p><p>Dr. Valderrama’s research focuses on home-bound older adults. His work has been published in peer-reviewed journal articles, abstracts and book chapters. He has also shared his work through national and international poster presentations.</p><p>Dr. Valderrama is board certified by the American Board of Internal Medicine and the American Board of Geriatric Medicine. He is a member of the American Geriatrics Society and the American Academy of Home Care Medicine. He is fluent in Spanish.</p>
Jessica L. Zwerling
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<p style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11.0pt;"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium;">Jessica Zwerling, MD, MS, has a clinical focus on identifying risk factors for cognitive decline and dementia, as well as factors that promote successful aging. Zwerling’s research focuses on optimizing healthcare delivery systems. Her work has been published in many peer-reviewed journals and has been shared at national and international invited conferences. She has developed the clinical and didactic programs used to enhance health professionals’ capacity to screen, diagnose, and develop personalized plans of care for patients with Alzheimer disease and related dementias for the Montefiore Health System. She also is a nationally recognized expert in aging/ dementia and serves as an adviser on multiple panels related to recruitment in neurodegenerative disease clinical trials. In addition, she has pioneered the age-friendly initiatives at her health system and certified her Center of Excellence with the highest age-friendly recognition. Zwerling is board certified in neurology as well as the subspecialty of neuromuscular medicine by the American Board of Psychiatry and Neurology. She is a member of the American Geriatrics Society and the American Academy of Neurology. Additionally, she has been named “2020 Health Care Hero” by the Westchester magazine, and was named one of the New York Super Doctors in The New York Times from 2016 to 2023. She has also been appointed and completed the Physician Leaders Program at Montefiore Health System.</span></p>
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<li><strong>B.S. with Special Certification in Gerontology:</strong> Cornell University </li>
<li><strong>M.S.:</strong> Natural Science, University at Buffalo Medical School /Roswell Park Cancer Institute</li>
<li><strong>M.D. with Thesis Honors and Research Honors:</strong> University at Buffalo Medical School </li>
<li><strong> Internship</strong>: Albert Einstein/Beth Israel Medical CenterResidency</li>
<li><strong>Chief Residency</strong>: Albert Einstein/Montefiore Medical Center </li>
<li><strong>Fellowship:</strong> Neuromuscular disease/Neurophysiology</li>
<li><strong>Fellowship:</strong> Geriatric Neurology (3 years) Albert Einstein/Montefiore Medical Center; NIH recipient of T32</li>
<li><strong> Board Certification:</strong> American Board of Neurology and Psychiatry (Neurology)</li>
<li><strong> Neuromuscular Board Certified</strong>: American Academy of Neurology</li>
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<p>To meet the needs clinically of our patients/caregivers, I developed and published a new model of care for the community. This model is called the Coordinated Care At Risk/Remote Elderly Program (CCARRE) and focuses on the patient/caregiver dyad. Additional funding supported the expansion of a telehealth depression treatment program for older adults which supported recruitment in our diverse, frail population. Foundation support has provided the ability to provide culturally and language competent assessments/evaluations and management of neurodegenerative diseases and cognitive impairment. Other grant funding supports the implementation of the 5cs program (Comprehensive Culturally relevant Care for Cognitively impaired and their Caregivers – a pathway to equity in health care and model for systems transformation. Current funding for BRAID in conjunction will bridge our research aims and This grant uses the MHS-pioneered BRAID model (Bridging Research, Accurate Information, and Dialogue) where researchers/providers gain a deep understanding of the needs of our diverse and vulnerable population. To aid in clinical trial enrollment/retention, this work focuses on the Age Friendly 4Ms--What Matters, Medication, Mentation, and Mobility and strengthens the collaboration between the health system and the surrounding community.
</p></p>Educational models through research: Additional national funding supported the building of a network of skilled nursing facilities and expanded my role as a leader of a Covid Action Network through Project ECHO. I developed the curriculum for interprofessional and brought the community of 99 skilled nursing facilities together with our Montefiore Health System experts to provide evidence-based Covid 19 care. In addition - I obtained funding to implement the MOLST or eMOLST into our collaborative of skilled nursing facilities to assure safe care transitions and encourage the end-of-life directives to be completed electronically.</p>
My overall clinical research focuses on how to address the neurodegenerative disease. The pandemic has forced a reevaluation of resources and additional funding to support a robust educational network that provides interdisciplinary CME, as well as telehealth for the older adult, which was crucial. Building a patient-caregiver evaluation center through foundation and state/national funding is crucial and has created a niche as an expert in neurodegenerative disease with a focus on under resourced, frail populations. This group is crucial to identify and recruit for future trials and our site has been identified as a patient-centered outcome center.
<p>Jessica Zwerling, MD, MS, is Director, Montefiore Hudson Valley Center of Excellence for Alzheimer’s Disease; Program Director, UCNS Geriatric Neurology Fellowship; Director, Memory Disorders Center; and Associate Director, Center for the Aging Brain at Montefiore. She is also Associate Professor of Neurology, Assistant Professor of Psychiatry, Assistant Professor of Pediatrics and Clinical Director of the Einstein Aging Study at our Albert Einstein College of Medicine. Her clinical focus is on identifying risk factors for cognitive decline and dementia, as well as factors that promote successful aging.</p><p>In 1996, Dr. Zwerling received her Bachelor of Science in human development and family studies at Cornell University, as well as earned a concentration in Gerontology. She continued her education at Roswell Park Cancer Institute/University at Buffalo, focusing on the validation of dementia rating scales, receiving her Master of Science in 2000 and her Doctor of Medicine in 2001, She earned her Doctor of Medicine with both thesis and research honors. Her postgraduate training began with an internship at Beth Israel Medical Center, followed by a residency/chief residency at Montefiore Medical Center. In 2006, she completed a fellowship in neuromuscular disease, electromyography and neurophysiology at Montefiore. In 2012, she completed a three-year NIH research fellowship in aging at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine.</p><p>Dr. Zwerling’s research focuses on optimizing healthcare delivery systems and coined the term “culturally competent collaborative care of the cognitively impaired older adult”. Her work has been published in many peer-reviewed journals and has been shared at a number of national invited lectures. She has developed the clinical and didactic programs used to enhance health professionals’ capacity to screen, diagnose and develop personalized plans of care for patients with Alzheimer’s and related dementias for the Montefiore Health System.</p><p>Dr. Zwerling has received multiple grants from the Leslie R. Samuels and Fan Fox Foundation for work in memory and gait. This has created postdoctoral programs for trainees in the field of neuropsychology, social work, as well as geriatric neurology. In 2017 and 2019, Dr. Zwerling received the Research Recognition Award in Alzheimer’s Disease at the CaringKind Forget-Me-Not Gala. She was also named one of the New York Super Doctors in The New York Times from 2016 to 2020. Dr. Zwerling is board certified in neurology as well as the subspecialty of neuromuscular medicine by the American Board of Psychiatry and Neurology. She is a member of the American Geriatrics Society and the American Academy of Neurology. Additionally, she has been named “2020 Health Care Hero” by the Westchester magazine.</p>
Beth R. Zell
Shiu M. Young
Lucia R. Wolgast
Hematology and Coagulation<quillbot-extension-portal></quillbot-extension-portal>
Antiphospholipid Syndrome<quillbot-extension-portal></quillbot-extension-portal>
Erica F. Weiss
<p>Dr. Erica Weiss is a clinical neuropsychologist who completed her doctorate in Clinical Psychology with a <span class="highlight">Health</span> emphasis at the Ferkauf Graduate School of Psychology at Yeshiva University. She completed her clinical internship and post-doctoral fellowship training in Clinical Neuropsychology within the division of Neuropsychology at Montefiore. Dr. Weiss is now director of that fellowship program and assistant professor of Neurology at Albert Einstein College of Medicine. She is Associate Director of Neuropsychology at the Montefiore Center for the Aging Brain, Director of Neuropsychology for the Hudson Valley Center of Excellence in Alzheimer’s Disease and Director of Neuropsychology at the Montefiore Memory Disorders Clinic. </p>
<p>Dr Weiss’ clinical work includes the cognitive evaluation of children and adults with a variety of neurological disorders including epilepsy and dementia. She spearheaded the expansion of clinical neuropsychology services through the creation of a bilingual internship and fellowship program in Clinical Neuropsychology. </p>
Dr. Weiss’ clinical work includes the cognitive evaluation of children and adults with a variety of neurological disorders including but no limited to multiple sclerosis/neuroimmunological disorders, epilepsy, and dementia.<quillbot-extension-portal></quillbot-extension-portal>
Research foci include cognition in healthy aging and exceptional longevity, briefer neurocognitive evaluations and their usefulness in clinical/ research settings, and cognitive correlates of childhood epilepsies and Febrile Status Epilepticus. Particular interest in improving how various providers assess cognition.<quillbot-extension-portal></quillbot-extension-portal>
Rubiahna L. Vaughn
Victoria Vapnyar
Jamie T. Twaite
Dr. Twaite’s clinical focus is on the neuropsychological evaluation and rehabilitation of individuals with cognitive and emotional concerns related to neurologic, medical, and psychiatric illness. She has a particular interest in the diagnosis and management of dementias and acquired brain injury(ABI), as well as in the rehabilitation of of spinal cord injury (both with and without concurrent ABI).<quillbot-extension-portal></quillbot-extension-portal>
Dr. Twaite’s research interests include cognitive and emotional functioning following stroke, TBI, and other acquired brain injury, as well as in individuals with Parkinson’s disease and in healthy populations, such as musicians.<quillbot-extension-portal></quillbot-extension-portal>
<p>Jamie Twaite, PhD, is a Neuropsychologist, Co-Director, Burke Rehabilitation Hospital’s Concussion Management Program, Director, Neuropsychology Externship and Assistant Professor, Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation at Montefiore Einstein. Her clinical focus is on the neuropsychological evaluation and rehabilitation of individuals with cognitive and emotional concerns related to neurologic, medical and psychiatric illnesses. She has a particular interest in the diagnosis and management of dementia and acquired brain injury (ABI), as well as in the rehabilitation of spinal cord injury (both with and without concurrent ABI).</p><p>After completing her Master of Psychology at Columbia University in 2008, Dr. Twaite pursued her Doctor of Philosophy in psychology at City University of New York (CUNY), earning the degree in 2016. That same year, she completed an APA-accredited predoctoral internship in clinical psychology-adult neuropsychology track with the Henry Ford Health System. She then went on to complete her postdoctoral fellowship in clinical neuropsychology with the Institute of Living, Hartford Hospital, with focused training in the assessment of memory disorders/dementias, acquired brain injuries, and severe and persistent mental illness.</p><p>Dr. Twaite’s research interests include cognitive and emotional functioning following stroke, traumatic brain injury (TBI) and other acquired brain injury in individuals with Parkinson’s disease as well as in healthy populations, such as in musicians. Her work has been published in numerous peer-reviewed journals and she has given paper and poster presentations at scientific meetings nationally and internationally. Dr. Twaite is a reviewer for the <em>Journal of Clinical and Experimental Neuropsychology</em> and the <em>Journal of Psycholinguistic Research</em>.</p><p>Dr. Twaite is a member of several professional associations, including the American Psychological Association (APA), the Society for Clinical Neuropsychology and the International Neuropsychological Society. In 2013, Dr. Twaite received the Graduate Center Doctoral Student Research Grant from CUNY.</p>