Article archive / September 1, 2012
Originally published: . Volume 4, No. 1. Source pages: 5.
Dr. Karen Kopera-Frye, department head of Gerontology, Sociology and Political Science at University of Louisiana Monroe (ULM) is helping to lead a joint project between ULM and Pennington Biomedical Research Center, Baton Rouge, part of the LSU System. The research program will look at the factors for chronic diseases such as dementia, obesity, diabetes, cardiovascular disease, and cancer, according to recent ULM news reports.
The project will involve Pennington’s Institute for Dementia Research and Prevention and is one of the largest studies in the nation, noted the report. The goals include the development of early detection and also the possibility of developing methods for prevention and treatment, wrote ULM News author Laura Woodward.
“These types of studies begin to open up doors for subsequent studies,” said Kopera-Frye, Ph.D., holder of ULM’s Joseph A. Beidenharn Endowed Chair of Gerontology.
Dr. Kopera-Frye also noted to Woodward, “Participants will be asked to return in a year to track progression and to see if any changes have occurred since the first test.”
“They will also be able to become involved in other types of testing for free. Those include sleep, nutrition and diet, and gait studies.”
Dr. Kopera-Frye described that gerontology and psychology students will be trained to help in testing, allowing the students the opportunity to work closely with individuals in the aging population in northeast Louisiana.
Dr. Bill McCown, serving as interim director of the ULM Graduate School also commented for the report.
"For reasons that are unknown, northeast Louisiana has an extraordinarily high rate of Alzheimer's disease. We also have some of the least healthy seniors. Furthermore, we have a demographically different group of potential volunteers than the rest of the state. Under the direction of Dr. Karen Frye, ULM's Biedenharn Endowed Chair of Gerontology, we will have access to volunteers from rural and minority communities. We believe that up to 50 percent of our participants will be from these underrepresented groups."
In May, ULM President Nick Bruno, PhD signed a memorandum of understanding with Pennington Executive Director Steven Heymsfield, MD, describing the areas of collaboration and how the different groups from geriatrics, botany, and pharmacology would be working together and helping the synergy of the combined talents between the organizations, described the ULM report.
In the article, Pennington’s Dr. Jeffery Keller noted that there are currently 100,000 individuals in Louisiana with Alzheimer’s disease, and that he and others want to help answers questions.
"The collaboration between ULM and PBRC on the aging and dementia studies has a lot of obvious synergies. It is going to immediately increase the quality of research at both campuses, increase opportunities for new grants, and set the stage for clinical trials for Alzheimer's disease in the Monroe area,” Dr. Keller noted in the report. Pennington conducts research about the causes of obesity, diabetes, cardiovascular disease, cancer and dementia.
Those interested in participating in the study, which involves free screening for dementia and fall risk contact the IDRP at (225) 763-2973, 1-877-276-8306 or dementia@pbrc.edu
This article is part of a historical newspaper archive. Read the original issue for its original layout, photographs and graphics.