Our Honorees

Thursday, November 4, 2010

Dr. Karen Bell



Karen Bell is an Associate Clinical Professor of Neurology at Columbia University in New York City , in the G.H. Sergievsky Center and the Taub Institute for Research on Alzheimer's Disease and the Aging Brain. She also holds the position of Associate Attending Physician at New York Presbyterian Hospital . Dr. Bell completed her undergraduate studies at New York University in 1980, and earned her medical degree at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine in Philadelphia in 1984. She did an internal medicine internship at Harlem Hospital Center in NYC in 1985, and completed a neurology residency at the Neurological Institute at Columbia University , College of Physicians and Surgeons in 1988. Dr. Bell also completed a 3-year fellowship in Behavioral Neurology, and now specializes in the evaluation and treatment of neurodegenerative cognitive disorders.

Interests

Dr. Bell's research interests at the Taub Institute include the treatment and prevention of Alzheimer's disease through clinical trials, and she is currently serving as the director of the Alzheimer's Disease Clinical Trials Group at Columbia University. As the leader of the Education and Information Core of the Alzheimer's Disease Research Center at Columbia University, Dr. Bell has developed physician education programs. Dr Bell has been the Director of the minority recruitment efforts for NIA-funded Alzheimer's Disease Cooperative Study, and is interested in achieving ethnic diversity in enrollment in Alzheimer's disease clinical trials on a national level. Dr. Bell is a member of the American Academy of Neurology and the National Medical Association.

From http://www.cumc.columbia.edu/dept/sergievsky/fs/bell.html  

Jed Levine



Jed Levine worked at the International Center for the Disabled in Manhattan supervising a group for people with Alzheimer's disease. That program closed and in 1990 Jed moved to the New York City chapter of the Alzheimer's Association where he is now the Assistant Vice President.

When he arrived at the organization Jed worked to develop an innovative initiative called the "Wandering Safety Program," which served as a prototype for the National Safe Return Program. Though presently there is no cure for Alzheimer's, Levine is committed to improving the quality of care to those affected by the disease.

"There are many definitions of hope," he said. "And the hope is really in that you can minimize the suffering as much as possible and provide a good quality of life to that individual who is diagnosed.

Lou-Ann Barkan, President and CEO of the Alzheimer's Association says about Jed:

"He has a perspective that is a combination of common sense and compassion, and also a recognition of the reality. That is a very hard balance, and I think he does it absolutely brilliantly."

from http://westsidespirit.com/2009/10/09/alzheimer%E2%80%99s-advocate/