Eye on WNY: UB Projects and Events Highlight Alzheimer’s Disease, Minority Mental Health, and Lyme Disease

You may have heard that June was Alzheimer’s and Brain Awareness Month, July is National Minority Mental Health Awareness Month, and August is National Immunization Awareness Month. Fittingly, University at Buffalo researchers are busy with projects and holding community events touching on related public health concerns. Three noteworthy examples involve Alzheimer’s disease, minority mental health, and Lyme disease.

Expanded Outreach for Alzheimer’s Disease and Memory Disorders Center

In May 2022, Buffalo Research News shared details about UB’s Brain Train program, which helps the community better understand brain health and disease. Brain Train is a community education initiative of UB’s Alzheimer’s Disease and Memory Disorders Center, which recently received funding from the New York State Department of Health enabling it to expand care to families experiencing dementia in all eight counties of Western New York.

“Our mandate is to work throughout Western New York to improve the level of awareness about the symptoms of Alzheimer’s disease among providers, patients, families and the public,” explained Kinga Szigeti, MD, PhD, Associate Professor, Department of Neurology, Jacobs School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences, and Director of the Alzheimer‘s Disease and Memory Disorders Center. “With improved awareness, we can boost early screening and detection, which significantly benefits outcomes for patients and families.”

Read more about the center’s new opportunities for patient, caregiver, and provider outreach.

Recent Conversation Examined Racism and Mental Health

A UB-sponsored event on racism, racial literacy, and mental health was held at the Jacobs School on May 11, almost a year to the day of the mass shooting in the heart of Buffalo’s Jefferson Avenue community. Panelists at the “Racism, Racial Literacy, and Mental Health” conversation tackled tough questions at an event, which featured a keynote from Howard Stevenson, PhD, University of Pennsylvania.

“We have a mental health crisis in this country, and we have a dearth of mental health counselors who are able to meet that level of need,” stated Christopher St. Vil, PhD,  Assistant Professor, School of Social Work.

Read more about “Racism, Racial Literacy, and Mental Health” or watch a video recording of the event.

Lyme Disease Study for Kids

While there are no approved vaccines available to prevent Lyme disease, a clinical study of Pfizer’s new Lyme disease vaccine is being run through the Department of Pediatrics in the Jacobs School. As UBNow reported in March, the purpose of the study is to learn more about the safety of an investigational Lyme vaccine in people between the ages of 5 and 17. Enrollment has concluded.

“I have treated many children with Lyme,” explained Mark D. Hicar, MD, PhD, Associate Professor, Department of Pediatrics, Jacobs School. “Cases of Lyme have been steadily increasing in our area over the last decade.”

Read more in the UBNow story.