Rosie Curiel Cid, Psy.D., Co-Chairs the 2021 Alzheimer’s Public Educational Forum This year, for the first time, the Mild Cognitive Impairment (MCI) Symposium, Workshop, and Public Educational Forum was held virtually. A restructure of the usually in-person program consisted of live presentations, Q&A sessions, and panel discussions. Presented by The Wien Center for Alzheimer’s Disease and Memory Disorders, Mount Sinai Medical Center and 1Florida Alzheimer’s Disease Research Center, the event offers a space where new information is provided and in-depth discussions take place about the earliest stages of Alzheimer’s disease and related disorders. Speakers included experts in the fields of neurology, neuropsychology, psychiatry, geriatrics, epidemiology, genetics, imaging and neuropathology. In 2013, the MCI Symposium introduced the first Alzheimer’s Public Educational Forum for patients, at-risk family members and caregivers. This segment originated in response to the need for increased information from the general public about risk factors, early detection, prevention and treatment of Alzheimer’s disease and related conditions. This year’s Public Educational Forum was sponsored by Mount Sinai Medical Center, Miami Beach, the University of Florida and the 1Florida ADRC. Rosie Curiel Cid, Psy.D., associate professor and chief of cross-cultural neuropsychology and cognitive neuroscience, co-chaired the virtual forum and David Loewenstein, Ph.D., director of the Center for Cognitive Neuroscience on Aging and associate director of the full ADRC, served as a presenter, answering the many thoughtful questions submitted by the public. More than 800 people registered. “The astonishing increase of those receiving a diagnosis of Alzheimer’s dementia or other related disorders continues to significantly impact our population,” Dr. Curiel Cid said. “From patients to families to caregivers, there are few people left unaffected by this disease. During the covid pandemic alone, deaths in the U.S. due to Alzheimer’s or dementia increased 16%. This is monumental growth just in the last year and it was reflected in the vast forum audience. Everybody wants answers and treatments and cures and we are working determinedly to find them.”
4 BRAINSTORMS | WINTER 2020–2021
One unique aspect of the 1Florida ADRC as it relates to both professional and lay education is the Annual MCI Symposium and the accompanying Public Education Forum. Our academic-community partnerships thus far have facilitated broad dissemination of this forum that serve as a bridge to support the goals of the CNSA. This forum allows Alzheimer’s disease and related disorders stakeholders across the state and country to “meet the scientists” to foster some of the activities that the center very much cares about: education, recruitment of new participants, retention of existing participants and collaboration with other Alzheimer’s Disease Centers (ADC). This is one innovative example for the Center’s Outreach, Recruitment and Engagement Core, given
the transference to a virtual event for the first time. This is a special educational event, a unique contribution from our 1Florida ADRC to the overall ADC network. In 2020, Dr. David Loewenstein, Director of the CNSA, and his team of expert investigators together with other Florida institutions, were awarded a $15 million grant to collaborate on Alzheimer’s disease research. The five-year National Institutes of Health/National Institute on Aging grant brings together top Florida researchers to focus on better understanding how to diagnose, treat, prevent, and potentially cure Alzheimer’s in diverse populations. The consortium of these institutions is the 1Florida Alzheimer’s Disease Research Center.
