Dear friends and supporters,
We are grateful for your generous support of the Center for Geriatric Cognitive and Mental Health programs at Northern Light Acadia Hospital. Thanks to your kindness, we’ve been able to help thousands of patients and families affected by Alzheimer’s disease and related conditions across Maine.
We thought you might appreciate hearing about the exciting progress we’ve made together over the past two years, as well as our plans for the future, which are made possible by your involvement and generosity! Here’s a glimpse into what we’ve been up to thanks to your help.
Northern Light Mood and Memory
- The clinical program of our Center, Northern Light Mood and Memory, relocated into a newly renovated space with convenient patient access and parking directly outside our doors. Our new space also fosters close collaboration among our physicians, nurse practitioners, nurses, and neuropsychologists, all working together in a shared environment.
- We are thrilled to have recruited Justin Otis, MD, a neuropsychiatrist, with significant expertise in both psychiatry and neurology, who moved to Maine from Wisconsin to join our team.
- The clinic now has integrated neuropsychologists for comprehensive cognitive assessments. Caroline Hollnagel, PhD, an expert in neurodegenerative diseases, came to us from Northern Light Eastern Maine Medical Center, and Rebecca MacAulay, PhD, an expert in cognitive aging and associate professor at the University of Maine, began working with us one day a week. These additions to our team have shortened the wait time for a first appointment from 18-24 months to 6-12 months!
- This spring, two nurse practitioners will join us for a one-year residency to train in becoming dementia-care specialists. Kayla Thompson is from Maine and Kari Mongeon Wahlen is from Minnesota, and we’re hoping both will stick around to work here in Maine.
- We have started a new clinical service to provide patients with access to the new anti-amyloid antibodies. These drugs effectively clear toxic beta-amyloid from the brain and slow progression of Alzheimer’s disease. They are high risk medications, given intravenously, to carefully selected patients who are followed by a structured safety protocol. We are one of only three centers in Maine providing these exciting breakthrough treatments.
Robert C. Strauss Neurocognitive Research Program
- The Strauss Research Program continues to be at the leading edge of science. We recently completed three studies, including a novel collaboration with Alzheimer’s disease specialists at Massachusetts General Hospital that showed that nicotinamide riboside, a form of vitamin B3, can reduce levels of tau tangles in people with very early Alzheimer’s disease. This work was recently published.
- We also have several other innovative studies underway, including a collaboration with Novo Noridisk to study semaglutide (the GLP-1 drug often prescribed for diabetes and weight loss) to slow transition from mild cognitive impairment to dementia.
- We’re working with Cognito Therapeutics on a 40 Hz brain stimulator, through light and sound pulses, to slow neurodegeneration.
- We have partnered with Eli Lilly on a new study that investigates a subcutaneously-administered anti-amyloid antibody to clear beta-amyloid plaques from the brains of people who have early Alzheimer’s disease but do not yet have symptoms.
MAINAH Research Registry
- Participants have enjoyed two educational webinars, newsletters, and our team was pleased to answer questions regarding healthy brain aging from the more than 900 Mainers enrolled in our healthy brain aging registry, MAINAH. If you missed our webinars, you will find them on our website at northernlighthealth.org/Mood-and-Memory
- We delivered well-attended educational discussions on healthy brain aging to the residents of North Haven Island, Blue Hill, and Mount Dessert Island thanks to the support of Northern Light Foundation.
Rural Dementia Care Training Program
We couldn’t be more thrilled to have received a
$1.33 million grant from the Health Resources and Service Administration (HRSA), thanks to the efforts of Maine’s senator,
Susan Collins, through the Congressional Discretionary Spending fund. Through this grant, we have established the
Rural Dementia Care Training Program which we expect will make a huge difference in improving dementia care in Maine. The program will offer education to healthcare providers throughout the state, and not just at Northern Light Health. Stay tuned for more information as we get this program off the ground, which will not only help Maine, but also serve as a national model for collaborative education and research.
You can, and should, take some credit for helping us achieve these major accomplishments. Just as we are grateful for your generous support, we are equally grateful to the many Mainers and their families who have entrusted us with their care; it is an honor we do not take lightly.
Please reach out at any time with questions.
All the best,
Cliff Singer, MD, DFAPA, AGSF
Chief, Center for Geriatric Cognitive and Mental Health, Acadia Hospital
Research Professor, Institute of Medicine, University of Maine
Email:
csinger@northernlight.org