The purpose of this NIA-SERCA application in behavioral geriatrics is to provide the applicant with opportunities for further career development and interdisciplinary research experiences in the area of cognitive disorders in elderly individuals. Objectives for further career development are to provide the applicant with: 1) biomedical knowledge of the natural history and functional consequences of cognitive disorders, such as delirium and Alzheimer's Disease; 2) clinical experiences in the evaluation and care of patients with these disorders; and 3) research training in the use of measures for the functional assessment of older patients. Objectives related to interdisciplinary research experiences are to: 1) develop statistical models of the relationship between cognitive disorders and physical functioning, with a special focus on elucidating biomedical and behavioral factors that mediate this relationship; and 2) initiate a prospective pilot study of whether a managed care approach to patients with cognitive disorders results in better outcomes than a traditional approach to care. Together, these experiences will permit the candidate to apply her extensive background in behavioral sciences to the development of an integrated clinical/behavioral approach to the care of patients with cognitive disorders. The long-term goals of this SERCA are the design of interventions aimed at minimizing the functional consequences of cognitive disorders and improving the patient and caretaker's quality of life. The applicant, a behavioral scientist with 6 years of post-doctoral experience in the field of gerontology, is Assistant Professor in the Department of Social Medicine at Harvard Medical School. Her sponsor and major collaborator is John Growdon, M.D., Associate Professor of Neurology and Director, Massachusetts Alzheimer's Disease Research Center. Her mentors in geriatric medicine are Jeanne Wei, M.D.. Ph.D., Associate Professor of Medicine, and Lewis Lipsitz, M.D., Assistant Professor of Medicine, and in geriatric psychiatry Benjamin Liptzin, M.D., Associate Professor of Psychiatry. Her research mentors are: Paul Cleary, Ph.D., Associate Professor of Health Care Policy and John Morris, Ph.D., Associate Director of Social Research, Hebrew Rehabilitation Center for the Aged.
