Geriatric Research Education and Clinical Center (GRECC)

Puget Sound GRECC

• Aging, genetics, and environmental factors in neurodegeneration and dementia
• Brain pharmacodynamics and drug transport in normative aging, injury, and dementia
• Endocrinology relating aging, body composition, and cancer

• Genetic dissection of catecholaminergic innervation of the cognitive cerebellum
• Mechanisms of action of ghrelin in muscle and adipose tissue in cancer-related cachexia
• Understanding the interplay between pathological tau and TDP-43 in dementia
• Growth Hormone Replacement Therapy for Veterans with TBI and AGHD and Gulf War Illness and AGHD.
• Approach to the aberrant androgen receptor signaling in lethal prostate cancer
• The role of APOE locus genes regulation in Alzheimer’s disease
• Genetic movement disorders: etiologies and pathogeneses
• Air Pollution, the aging brain and Alzheimer's disease
• Inhibiting MSUT2 as a candidate intervention for aging related tauopathy

• Support of Northwest Geriatrics Education Center lecture series (which spans across the VISN)
• Practicum site for Geriatric Scholars program, which enhances geriatric education in rural facilities
• Training site for psychiatry and medicine fellows and residents
• Support of trainees in optometry, social work, psychology, audiology, and speech pathology
• VISN 20 Dementia Committee and VA Puget Sound education implementation for VA Dementia System of Care Directive
• Hub site for GRECC Connect (virtual geriatrics) and Navigator pilot project
• GRECC Aging Cognition and Education (ACE) workgroup with various Health Aging Brain educational products and home of the 3Ds (Delirium, Dementia, and Depression) pocket card
• GRECC Forum on Aging newsmagazine (a biannual GRECC publication editor
• Advanced training in geriatrics scholarship following completion of clinical training

• Patient Priorities Care (PPC) in CLCs, CBOCs
• Mov-ing FREE-ly (Multipomponent, Otago, Virtual, Falls Reduction, Education, and Exercise Class)
• Pre-operative frailty screening for elective orthopedic surgeries
• Drug Burden Index (DBI) as a way to encourage deprescribing in older adults at risk of falling

• Growth hormone secretagogue receptor-1a mediates ghrelin's effects on attenuating tumour-induced loss of muscle strength but not muscle mass J Cachexia Sarcopenia Muscle https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/34264027/
• Starving lethal prostate cancer by targeting heat shock proteins and glycolytic enzymes Cell Rep Med https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/35243412/
• Loss of aly/ALYREF suppresses toxicity in both tau and TDP-43 models of neurodegeneration Geroscience https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/35122183/
• TOMM40 genetic variants associated with healthy aging and longevity: a systematic review BMC Geriatr  https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/35964003/
• Correlates of Conversion from Mild Cognitive Impairment to Dementia with Lewy Bodies: Data from the National Alzheimer's Coordinating Center J Alzheimers Dis https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/35213374/

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