<p>Dr. Charles Hall has been a senior biostatistician for the Einstein Aging Study (EAS) since 2001. The EAS, a longitudinal research study that focuses on the aging brain, is one of the longest running of its kind in the United States. A biostatistician by training, Dr. Hall investigates the connection between cognitive activities and the onset of age-related diseases such as Alzheimer&rsquo;s and dementia. His long-term observational research have shown that brain-stimulating activities have a positive correlation with delayed dementia onset and progression. Such findings support the hypothesis that education along with brain exercise&mdash;through endeavors such as reading, writing, group discussions and crossword puzzles&mdash;can help the brain build up extra defenses to fight off neuronal damage caused by age-related diseases.</p>
<p>In recent years Dr. Hall's main work has been as lead statistician for the World Trade Center (WTC) Health Program at the Fire Department of the City of New York. Dr. Hall has been Principal Investigator on four Cooperative Agreements funded by the National Institute of Occupational Safety and Health that examine respiratory disease, cancer, and mortality in WTC rescue/recovery workers and has contributed to other research on the health effects of the exposure.&nbsp;</p>

<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 15.6pt;"><span style="font-size: 9.0pt;">Dr. Hall is a biostatistician recognized for leading important long-term studies of aging and dementia. His research has shown, for example, that brain-stimulating activities delay the onset of dementia. He is the longtime director of the statistical core of the Einstein Aging Study, one of the longest-running prospective studies of aging in the country. He is also the lead statistician for the data coordinating center of the federally funded World Trade Center (WTC) Medical Monitoring &amp; Treatment Program, which provides free health monitoring and treatment for workers and volunteers involved in the rescue, recovery and clean-up activities at the WTC site in New York City.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 15.6pt;"><span style="font-size: 9.0pt;">In his aging studies, Dr. Hall has pioneered the use of change-point models &ndash; powerful statistical tools for detecting subtle but meaningful changes in data. He has used these models to show that having more years of formal education or engaging in cognitively stimulating leisure activities appear to protect against developing clinical dementia symptoms.</span></p>

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<p>A complete list of publications can be found at <a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/myncbi/collections/mybibliography/">NCBI</a… /><br /></p>