Sealy Center on Aging

Dr. Kenneth Ottenbacher, with over 25 years of exceptional contributions to UTMB, retired as of January 31, 2021. He served as Vice Dean of the School of Health Professions from 1995 to 2001 when he became the Senior Associate Dean for Research and Director of the Division of Rehabilitation Sciences. Dr. Ottenbacher was appointed as Associate Director in the Sealy Center on Aging in 1998 and has served as a member leadership of the UTMB Pepper Center.

Congratulations to former MSTAR graduating medical student Nicole Huang, this year’s recipient of the Edward J and Ellie Weisiger Lefeber, Sr Prize in Geriatric Medicine and Gerontology.

Heidi Spratt, PhD was selected by the Graduate Student Organization at the recent Commencement of the Graduation School of Biomedical Sciences at UTMB to receive the 2021 Distinguished Faculty Award.

Soham Al Snih, MD, PhD was selected by the Graduate Student Organization at the recent Commencement of the Graduation School of Biomedical Sciences at UTMB to receive the 2021 Distinguished Teacher Award.

Brian Downer, PhD has been awarded a multi-year grant from the National Institute on Aging for a grant titled, "The influence of social and cultural context on life course pathways for Alzheimer’s disease, related dementia, and care resources for older Mexican adults."

Save the Date: UTMB in partnership with UT Austin, UCLA, and USC will host the 2021 International Conference on Aging in the Americas. Submit abstracts through June 7, 2021.

Americorps Seniors are volunteers over the age of 55 who engage in a variety of volunteer activities, within Galveston County, identified through the RSVP Volunteer Program, sponsored and supported by UTMB’s Sealy Center on Aging for over 19 years. Learn more about this exciting program today.

Elizabeth Lyons, PhD, MPH, has been invited to serve as a member of the Health Promotion in Communities Study Section, Center for Scientific Review at the NIH. Dr. Lyons was nominated because of her demonstrated competence and achievement in her scientific discipline as evidenced by the quality of her research accomplishments, publications in scientific journals, and other significant scientific activities, achievements and honors.

A video from the recent Pepper Investigators Lecture presented by James S. Goodwin, MD, is now available, "Using Medicare Data to Study the Impact of SARS-Co-V on Older Americans".

The Study in Parkinson Disease of Exercise Phase 3 Clinical Trial: SPARX3 is now recruiting research participants. We are seeking volunteers to participate in a clinical research trial to learn more about the effects of aerobic exercise on people with Parkinson’s disease.

Learn how to get older the healthy way with a Health Chat series, part of the Beyond the Books Spring 2021 program at Helen Hall Library. The series is led by Alice Williams, Community Educator at the UTMB Sealy Center on Aging with guest speakers. Join us ONLINE January 28, Feb 25, March 25, April 22. Click title for more details.

Congratulations to Rafael Samper-Ternent, MD, PhD, Assistant Professor of Geriatric Medicine & Scholar in the UTMB Claude D. Pepper Older Americans Independence Center on a new two-year CTSA Diversity Supplement grant funded by the National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences.

Alice Williams is participating in The Gathering Place Brain Fair on March 27, 2021, 9am-Noon at the Brazoria County Fairgrounds. Come out and learn about UTMB's D-CARE study supporting individuals with dementia and their family caregivers.

In collaboration with Université Laval and SilverScience20, Dr. Rafael Samper-Ternent is working with Dr. Julie Faieta to present videos about topics for people with dementia and their caregivers. Three videos are now available: "State of the Science: Does COVID-19 Impact Risk of Developing Dementia?", "Quick Tips for Dementia Caregivers: COVID-19 Vaccine", and "State of the Science: Participating in Research."

Galveston Alzheimer's Association Community Forum Thursday, March 25th at 4pm: Join us to learn about Alzheimer's, dementia, and memory loss and share your thoughts about how the Alzheimer's Association can help people in your community.

Learn how to get older the healthy way with a Health Chat series, part of the Beyond the Books Spring 2021 program at Helen Hall Library. The series is led by Alice Williams, Community Educator at the UTMB Sealy Center on Aging with guest speakers. Join us ONLINE January 28, Feb 25, March 25, April 22. Click title for more details.

The Caregiver Connection Support Group is meeting virtually on Zoom on the 2nd and 4th Wednesdays monthly from 12 -1 p.m. All family caregivers of older adults with dementia or other special needs are welcome. Hosted by Alice Williams, MS, LBSW from SCOA.

Through a competitive process, Rafael Samper-Ternent, MD, PhD has been invited to IMPACT Collaboratory’s first annual Training Workshop and Retreat, “Building Skills to Conduct Embedded Pragmatic Clinical Trials for People Living with Dementia”, on April 7-8, 2021. Congratulations, Dr. Samper-Ternent!

CALL FOR PILOT PROPOSALS aimed at developing and/or utilizing state-of-the-art quantitative/data science methodologies and technologies to address aging-related research questions.

All UTMB students, postdoctoral fellows, medical residents, staff, and faculty, as well as community members, are encouraged to share their public health-related projects and experiences by participating in the Symposium’s poster session on April 7, 2021.

Older Adults are invited to sign up for this informative series from OLLI. Be the first to know about emerging research being conducted by UTMB’s Sealy Center on Aging (SCOA) and some of the multidisciplinary investigations which SCOA directs. Sign up by calling 409.763.5604

Geriatric Nurse Practitioners Jennifer Young and Tammie Michael helped dozens of homebound people in Galveston County receive their second doses of COVID-19 vaccinations last week during the difficult weather.

Monique Pappadis, MEd, PhD has been named as an Elite Reviewer for the Archives of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation for 2020. Elite status designation reflects the number, timeliness, and quality of reviews for the Archives in 2020 as judged by the editors.

Learn how to get older the healthy way with a Health Chat series, part of the Beyond the Books Spring 2021 program at Helen Hall Library. The series is led by Alice Williams, Community Educator at the UTMB Sealy Center on Aging with guest speakers. Join us ONLINE January 28, Feb 25, March 25, April 22. Click title for more details.

Join us for the Abundant Living Conference online this year. We look forward to connecting with you and miss seeing you at camp. March 8, 2021, 10AM-noon.

Rebeca Wong, PhD has been invited by the chair of the NIH Council of Councils to join a newly formed working group of the Council on Behavioral & Social Sciences Research (BSSR) Integration.

Norma Perez Raifaisen, MD, DrPH, Sealy Center on Aging Fellow, has published "A Snapshot of Current US Medical School Off-Ramp Programs—a Way to Leave Medical School with Another Degree," with colleagues at 3 other US medical schools. They discuss ways to help medical students who discover that an MD degree is not the right career path for them.

Kimberly P. Hreha, EdD, OTR/L, is the recipient of a highly competitive travel award from the American Federation for Aging Research.

Congratulations to Assistant Professor of Rehabilitation Sciences Rachel Deer, PhD, recipient of the Institute for Translational Sciences Provost’s Scholar Award for her proposal, "Feasibility Study of Multimodal Interventions to Accelerate Recovery and Improve Quality of Life in COVID-19 Survivors."

The Lefeber Winter Series on Aging, now in its 26th year, features nationally recognized gerontology research educators, basic scientists, clinicians and social scientists. This year all lectures will be ONLINE. Register to receive virtual meeting details. ​

Beyond Health: United Nations announced a new initiative to improve the lives of older people, their families and communities. The initiative approaches different aspects of life including health services as well as other aspects of society such as employment and demand good and services.

​Chih-Ying (Cynthia) Li, PhD, OTR, Department of Occupational Therapy, is a new recipient of the AOTF Early Career Research Excellence Award. Dr. Li had a pilot project in the UTMB Pepper Center.

Sealy Center on Aging staff and members of the Americorps Senior program of Galveston County assisted with distributing 40 gift cards to local seniors during the holidays. Also in December, Education Specialist Alice Williams gave a presentation, “Understanding Social Isolation and its Health Effects,” at Parson’s House Assisted Living in La Porte, TX.

Dr. Vineet Menachery, a leader in the Metabolism and Biology Resource Core of the UTMB Pepper Center, was interviewed by Ari Shapiro on, "All Things Considered," at NPR regarding the new strain of COVID-19 found in the UK.

Researchers at the University of Texas Medical Branch (UTMB), Galveston, Texas, are enrolling participants in the Dementia Care (D-CARE) Study to determine the effectiveness of various types of care for dementia. One such story, related by Geriatric Nurse Practitioner Melissa C. Lockhart, PhD, APRN, GNP-BC, involves a person with dementia who was enrolled in the D-CARE Study.

A video is now available online for the Pepper Investigator's Lecture on December 3, 2020, "Patient Priorities Care: Aligning Decisions and Care with Patients' Health Priorities," presented by Aanand D. Naik, MD, Professor and Robert J. Luchi, MD, Chair in Geriatric Medicine, Baylor College of Medicine.

The Sealy Center on Aging and the School of Health Professions presented the Dr. Suzanne Kneuper Linder Research Award for Patient-Centered Outcomes Research to 4th-year UTMB medical student Rahul Shah on November 25, 2020.

For the 5th time, the annual Mexican Health and Aging Study (MHAS/ENASEM) seminar for users of the data was organized in collaboration with the Mexican National Institute of Geriatrics (Instituto Nacional de Geriatría, INGER). A trademark of this meeting is the time devoted for questions and answers. Thirty institutions were represented, including 15 from Mexico and 15 from US, Canada, Netherlands, and Cuba.

UTMB is participating as a clinical site for the Study in Parkinson's Disease of Exercise Phase 3 Clinical Trial. The SPARX3 (NCT04284436) study is the first randomized control trial designed to investigate the effects of moderate- and high-intensity aerobic exercise on disease progression in untreated patients with Parkinson’s.

A multidisciplinary team of physicians, rehabilitation specialists, nurses, and data scientists looked at hip fractures. Using a visual analytical method, the team was able to identify subgroups who shared pre-existing conditions and map out how these could lead to a higher risk of readmissions.

The outdoor concert raised money for the St. Vincent's House Dementia Respite Program which started as a pilot in 2019 with UTMB Geriatrics and has been funded for two years through a 2020 President's Cabinet Award led by Erin Hommel, MD, Melissa Lockhart, PhD, APRN, GNP, and Andrea Wirt, MSN, GNP.

The Texas Resource Center for Minority Aging Research (RCMAR) will be accepting applications for pilot funding for the academic year (07/01/21 to 06/30/22) until January 15, 2021.

Monique Pappadis, MEd, PhD has published a new article, "Soy diferente: a qualitative study on the perceptions of recovery following traumatic brain injury among Spanish-speaking U.S. immigrants."

Kenneth J. Ottenbacher, PhD, OTR has been selected to receive The Excellence in Rehabilitation of Aging Persons Award for 2020 at the Gerontological Society of America Annual Scientific Meeting. The award is designed to acknowledge outstanding contributions in the field of the rehabilitation of aging individuals. A lecture in the name of this award is part of the GSA Annual Scientific Meeting Online and will feature an address by Dr. Ottenbacher on November 5, 2020.

The Caregiver Connection Support Group is meeting virtually on Zoom on the 2nd and 4th Wednesdays monthly from 12 -1 p.m. All family caregivers of older adults with dementia or other special needs are welcome. Hosted by Alice Williams, MS, LBSW from SCOA.

A new factsheet from Dr. Wong and the Mexican Health and Aging Study (MHAS) is now available. Download Aging in Mexico: Frailty MHAS Factsheet 20-3 October 2020 at the WHO/PAHO website.

Thank you all for joining the Walk on October 17, 2020 and for supporting our team under the able leadership of our Co-Captains—Alice Williams & Kayla Shamburger. Kudos to Alice and Kayla for doing an outstanding job of organizing the team and raising over 8K for the Alzheimer's Association, an important step in winning the fight against Alzheimer's.

Erin Hommel, MD, Melissa Lockhart, PhD, APRN, GNP, and Andrea Wirt, MSN, GNP were awarded a 2020 President's Cabinet Award. Caregiver burden is significant for families of geriatric patients. Following the success of a 2019 collaboration between the UTMB Geriatrics Department and the St. Vincent’s House Clinic, this project seeks to expand free respite care to all UTMB campuses.

New School of Health Professions / School of Nursing Grant: Multidisciplinary Development of Walk and Talk Videos to Increase Physical Activity Among Diverse Older Women. Annalyn DeMello PhD, MPH, RN​ (SON) Elizabeth Lyons, MPH, PhD (SHP), and Monique Pappadis, MEd, PhD (SHP) were awarded a fiscal year 2021 SHP/SON grant for a new project that aims to increase physical activity in older women.

Rachel Deer, PhD is leading the research arm of a new Post-COVID Recovery Clinic at UTMB. Recovery from COVID-19 is posing a new set of challenges for patients and physicians alike. The Post-COVID Rehabilitation Clinic has a multidisciplinary team from a broad range of specialties to address the issues of COVID-19 aftercare. Make an appointment by calling (832) 632-6666.

“An important concern is the current penalties for readmission do not to take into consideration the impact on mortality. Reducing readmissions may inadvertently affect minority and disadvantaged patients. These patients are not only at higher risk for readmission, they may also be at higher risk of dying,” said senior author Dr. Gulshan Sharma, director of the Division of Pulmonary Critical Care & Sleep Medicine.

The UTMB Claude D. Pepper Older Americans Independence Center encourages UTMB investigators to submit RL5 scholar applications. The Research Education Component engages early-stage investigators in a mentored research experience to support the development of externally funded research. Deadline: October 9, 2020.

Proposals from any domain of translational research (T1-T4) are welcome. Projects will be funded for one year, with total annual direct costs not to exceed $50,000. LOI Deadline: Friday, September 25, 2020

Ritchie, Alice and Candy continue to serve the community during the COVID-19 pandemic by volunteering to feed those in need.

Sadaf MIlani, PhD has joined the UTMB Department of Internal Medicine, Division of Geriatrics, as an assistant professor and BIRCWH scholar focusing on pain, prescription opioids, and cognition, among older women.

United Press International: Research conducted at UTMB found that 90 percent or more of people undergoing total knee or hip replacement in 2017 received a prescription for opioid pain relievers within 60 days of surgery, up from 82 percent three years earlier.

Mukaila Raji, MD and Yong-Fang Kuo, PhD with their team published, "Opioid Use and Pain Control After Total Hip and Knee Arthroplasty in the US, 2014 to 2017," in JAMA on July 30, 2020. Fourth year medical student Rahul Shah was the first author on the article.

Mukaila Raji, MD and Yong-Fang Kuo, PhD received a second round of funding from the National Institute on Drug Abuse, NIH for grant, "Effectiveness, toxicity and safety of opioid and benzodiazepine substitutes," through 2024.

Monique R. Pappadis, PhD, Assistant Professor, Division of Rehabilitation Sciences, has been awarded a new grant from the National Institute on Aging for her 5-year project, "Chronic Care Management of Geriatric Traumatic Brain Injury."

The National Institute on Aging has announced $6.3M in continued funding for the UTMB Pepper Center for the next five years (through June 2025). Funded since 2000, the Center has focused on helping older adults improve muscle strength and regain function after an illness.

The eagerly awaited results for the Strategies to Reduce Injuries and Develop Confidence in Elders (STRIDE) Trial are now available in the New England Journal of Medicine. This was a team effort among multiple institutions and health care systems across the US.

​The Volpi/Deer hospital research team has been recruiting for in-hospital and post-discharge studies since late April 2020 when Phase 1 research came back online after the COVID19 shutdown. They are currently recruiting for two randomized clinical trials investigating pragmatic interventions to slow muscle loss during hospitalization and accelerate recovery of physical function after discharge.

Researchers are invited to join two upcoming webinars from The Pepper Coordinating Center. July 10 - Succeeding in aging research during the pandemic: a webinar for research fellows and junior faculty. July 15 - Spotlight on AGS20 Virtual Sessions: Preventing Serious Fall Injuries: Primary Findings from the STRIDE Study.

The Caregiver Connection Support Group is meeting virtually on Zoom on the first Wednesday monthly from 12 -1 p.m. All family caregivers of older adults with dementia or other special needs are welcome.

The DCARE Study has recruited 20% of the target sample and that we are now ready to include participants that only speak Spanish into the study. Are you caring for someone experiencing memory problems? Enrollment is ongoing. Contact us today. Call (409) 266-9641.

Alice Williams participated in the Longest Day fundraiser on June 20th. Alice rode her bicycle at sunrise and sunset along the beautiful back roads by Galveston's West Bay to honor family caregivers of people with dementia. She raised $1,000 to advance the care, support and research efforts of the Alzheimer's Association.

The Chief Research office and UTMB CTSA in collaboration with UTMB infectious disease research community hosted a COVID-19 Research Virtual Workshop to facilitate learning and discussion around critical research questions related to the pandemic. On Thursday June 11, researches from the Sealy Center on Aging gave presentations about COVID-19 in older adults.

As the world continues dealing with the pandemic, an international team of computational scientists, medicinal chemists, biochemists, and virologist, led by Texas researchers, are working to rapidly identify drug like molecules that stop SARS-CoV-2.

Dr. Cynthia Li and colleagues published a new scientific article, "Impact of Self-Care and Mobility on One or More Post-Acute Care Transitions". This paper is a result of a pilot project from the UTMB Pepper Center previously awarded to Dr. Li.

Dr. Mansoo Ko and colleagues published a new scientific article, "Gait Deviation Associated with Absent Terminal Stance Phase in People with Stroke." Dr. Ko is a past recipient of a pilot project from the UTMB Pepper Center.

The RSVP of Galveston County continues to help the community. Alice Williams and Ritchie Adoue have teamed up to be back-up volunteers for the local Meals on Wheels program. Catherine Cooksley, a retired member of the Sealy Center on Aging and volunteer with the RSVP Program, also helps deliver meals. Each month, Ritchie Adoue serves dinner at Salvation Army.

Congratulations to former Medical Student Training in Aging Research (MSTAR) graduating medical student Usama Jazzar, this year’s recipient of the Edward J and Ellie Weisiger Lefeber, Sr Prize in Geriatric Medicine and Gerontology.

The Sealy Center on Aging welcomes three students in the Medical Student Training in Aging Research (MSTAR) program this summer. Welcome, Lan Vu, Michael Sewanaku, Sun Paek.

A new factsheet from Dr. Wong and the Mexican Health and Aging Study (MHAS) is now available. Download Aging in Mexico: The Most Vulnerable Adults MHAS Factsheet 20-2 May 2020 at the WHO/PAHO website.

April 20, 2020 at noon: Sealy Center on Aging & Health of Older Minorities Special Lecture, “Living Arrangements of Older Mexican Americans," presented by Phillip A. Cantu, PhD, Project Director, Texas Resource Center for Minority Aging Research and the Hispanic Established Populations for the Epidemiologic Study of the Elderly.

Former UTMB Pepper Center Pilot award recipient Chih-Ying (Cynthia) Li, PhD, Dept of Occupational Therapy has been selected to receive a 2 year AOTF grant and a 5 year NIH/NICHD grant award.

The Caregiver Connection support group, led by Alice Williams, Community Education Specialist with SCOA, held its first teleconference meeting on April 1. The group will continue to meet virtually until further notice. Contact Alice Williams at alwillia@utmb.edu for more info.

Dr. Ottenbacher received a new 5-year grant from the NIH/NIA, titled “Academic Leadership Award in Data Science and Discovery” (K07AG064031)

Announcing the availability of online videos from the 25th Annual Lefeber Winter Series on Aging at UTMB. Watch 5 one-hour videos from this year's selection of experts, and browse previous recordings.

Community Education Specialist Alice Williams, LBSW, MS and others visited HCA Houston Healthcare Mainland on February 27, 2020 where they presented “Navigating the Resource Jungle – Tips and resources for quickly finding care and services in our community” at the Community Assistance Providers of Galveston County (CAPGAL) monthly meeting.

One hundred seniors from across Texas came together in the piney woods of Camp Allen to celebrate aging abundantly through fellowship, learning, being in nature, fishing, music, yoga and much more March 2-4, 2020 at Camp Allen, Navasota, TX.

RSVP Program Director Ritchie Adoue hosted coordinated the 2020 Texas Senior Corps Association Conference here in Galveston on February 26 – 28, 2020.

Geriatric Nurse Practitioner Melissa C. Lockhart, PhD, APRN, GNP-BC is President Elect of the Gerontological Advanced Practice Nurses Association (GAPNA) Gulf Coast Region (Dallas, Brownsville, San Antonio Region). She will take office in July, 2020. Dr. Lockhart is currently involved in the Dementia Care Study (D-CARE) supported by the Sealy Center on Aging at UTMB.

“Loss of lean body mass and function with aging decreases the amount of metabolically active tissue, which can lead to insulin resistance,” Elena Volpi, MD, said at the World Congress on Insulin Resistance, Diabetes and Cardiovascular Disease. “Insulin resistance reduces muscle protein anabolism and accelerates sarcopenia, perpetuating a vicious cycle.”

Community Education Specialist Alice Williams, LBSW, MS, visited Gulf Parkinson's Source (GPS) meeting on February 6, 2020 where she presented about current research at SCOA, UTMB resources for community education & caregiving, and the Abundant Living Conference.

Geriatric Nurse Practitioner Melissa C. Lockhart, PhD, APRN, GNP-BC was recently invited to present, "Protect Your Loved Ones. Obtain the Forms Everyone Should Have," in the weekly "Time-Out" Session hosted by the UTMB Health Resource Center on February 5, 2020 at 2pm in Jennie Sealy 2.506A. Dr. Lockhart is currently involved in the Dementia Care Study (D-CARE).

Community Education Specialist Alice Williams, LBSW, MS visited Greater St. Matthews Baptist Church where she gave a presentation about the annual Abundant Living Conference and the RSVP of Galveston County. She also presented about current opportunities to participate in aging research at UTMB.

Hispanic Established Population for the Epidemiological Study of the Elderly: An Update Presented by Kyriakos S. Markides, PhD, Professor, Annie and John Gnitzinger Professor of Aging; Editor, Journal of Aging and Health

Congratulations to Elizabeth J. Lyons, PhD, MPH, on new professorship: the Grace Bucksch Gnitzinger Distinguished Professorship in Aging.

Monique Pappadis, MEd, PhD collaborated with the Chronic Brain Injury Task Force of American College of Rehabilitation Medicine (ACRM) on a special issue of Brain Injury Professional.

Rebeca Wong, PhD and colleagues hosted the annual meeting for users of the Mexican Health and Aging Study (MHAS) November 20-22 in Mexico. Sixty-five international scholars and students attended the meeting and thirty-six oral presentations were given. Participating institutions included eleven from Mexico and sixteen from outside of Mexico.

A new paper in the Journal of Gerontology: Medical Sciences shows potential new ways to speed up recovery from the hospital. UTMB researchers tried different strategies to boost the function of older adults hospitalized for an acute illness.

The Texas Resource Center on Minority Aging Research is accepting pilot applications until January 13, 2020.

Hospitalist schedules promoting inpatient continuity of care may be associated with better outcomes of hospitalization. James S. Goodwin discusses in a podcast with JAMA.

Physical activity and diet play a vital role in protecting muscle health. Doug Paddon-Jones, PhD studies how to retain muscle strength and how to consume proteins to help with this process.

Recent PhD program graduate Jaspreet Sodhi and colleagues published a paper, Pain as a predictor of frailty over time among older Mexican Americans in the Journal PAIN. A video and press release are now online.

Faculty and student researchers from the Sealy Center on Aging and the Pepper Center at UTMB attended the Annual Scientific Meeting of the Gerontological Society of American November 13-17, 2019 in Austin, Texas.