MedTech Featured Stories

IMPARA Teams Up with SU and SUNY Upstate Researcher for Alzheimer's Pilot Study

7/26/2012

The Institute at Menorah Park for Applied Research on Aging, located in Syracuse N.Y., has teamed up with Dr. Stefan Keslacy, a researcher from Syracuse University and Upstate Medical University, to conduct a pilot study on the effects of exercise on Alzheimer's patients. IMPARA is a region wide incubator with a mission to promote the study of aging, in partnership with other institutions, agencies, and health and spiritual care providers.      

Over the last several months, IMPARA has worked with Dr. Keslacy to promote the study and recruit subjects from among the Menorah Park network - campus residents, members of the surrounding community, and clients of partner agencies and community groups - and to develop the campus as an accessible site for the intervention. The study explores the effect of exercise at the cellular level to better understand the underlying mechanisms and reproduce it. Each subject will participate in a 12-week exercise program with pre- and post-physical and cognitive tests.

IMPARA understands that awareness of a researcher's needs is not always a given among clinical and other institutional staff. The Institute offers knowledge and expertise as it assists with subject recruitment and communications, and offers logistical help to support the successful completion of a study taking place on campus, such as the exercise intervention.

"It is good for us as a research institute to be participating in a project that has such significant implications," said Judith Huober, director of IMPARA.  "We would like to assist other organizations in the region to take on an active role in the study of aging and to contribute to the growth of knowledge and research in the elderly community."

IMPARA is pleased to be able to offer this Alzheimer's study opportunity to people in the community and looks forward to the positive impacts the research will generate. "It is with this kind of partnership that we will be able to reach our scientific goals and help the community," said Dr. Keslacy.

For more on the role of technology in aging, plan to attend the Innovative Aging Symposium with keynote speaker Dr. Joe Coughlin of the MIT Age Lab, on October 11 at SUNY Oswego's MetroCenter and at Menorah Park in Syracuse, NY.

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