The agenda

• Eric B. Larson, MD, MPH, with colleagues from the University of Washington and Group Health received a demonstration grant from the National Institutes of Health to establish a model Alzheimer’s disease registry in 1986.  This morphed into the landmark Adult Changes in Thought study with the establishment of the initial cohort of 2581 randomly selected volunteers who joined the study 1994-96. Larson, a general internist and eventually professor of medicine at the University of Washington came to Seattle as a UW fellow in 1975 after training in Boston at Harvard Medical School. He was Medical Director at UWMC and Associated Dean for clinical affairs 1989-2002 before moving to Group Health in 2002 to lead the Center for Health Studies. He also believed in the tremendous scientific potential of the ACT study if it could achieve continuous funding over many years. At Group Health /Kaiser Permanente Washington he eventually became the Executive Director of the Research Institute and Vice President for Research and Health Innovation. He recently retired from KPW,  July 2002, and continues to work part-time from his position in UW’s Department of Medicine as a Professor of Medicine.

  Dr. Larson’s presentation will provide an overview of the ACT study, the major expansion of funding for ACT and its related studies, and highlights in how our understanding of the aging brain and conditions like Alzheimer’s Disease has changed and will likely change even more from ongoing studies.  He will highlight how what we know about the aging brain is relevant to everyday life of older adults including their medical care. He has spoken to the Senior Caucus many times since coming to Group Health and enjoys the opportunity to share his knowledge and his appreciation of seniors who generously participate in ACT and other research at KPWHRI.

•  Chris Fordyce, retired MD and Senior Caucus chair will be announcing the new 2023-24 Board of Directors of the Senior Caucus along with general announcements about exciting new programs going forward.

  The presentation was recorded and is available below. Presentation slides are available here: Adult Changes in Thought Presentation | SC COVID Update

  As mentioned during today’s presentation, the Seattle Times published an article today highlighting the work done by Dr. Larson and the ACT program. Please click here to read the article.

  If you have any questions, please reach out to memberparticipation@kp.org.

KP Washington Senior Caucus April 14, 2023 Webinar