Louis J. Papa, M.D.
Primary Care Physician
Partner, Olsan Medical Group, Strong Health, Rochester, NY

Louis J. Papa M.D., FACP is board certified in Internal Medicine and is a primary care physician and partner at Olsan Medical Group.  He is an Associate Professor of Clinical Medicine at the University of Rochester, where he helps educate internal medicine residents on primary outpatient care.  He is also an attending physician at Strong Memorial Hospital. In 1989, Dr. Papa graduated from the State University of New York at Stony Brook School of Medicine and came to Rochester to complete his residency at Strong.  He is a member of the American College of Physicians.   Dr. Papa was elected a Fellow of the American College of Physicians at age 33, is a former Delegate for the Young Physicians Section representing New York State to the American Medical Association, and was named by his peers to "Best Doctors in America" in 2001.  He was selected by "Rochester Business Journal" as one of the "Forty under Forty" young community leaders in 2001 and was named as one of only 25 physicians under 40 years old nationally to receive the "Excellence in Medicine Award" from the American Medical Association Foundation for leadership in 2003. Dr. Papa is a member of numerous medical, civic and community committees and boards including volunteer work with the uninsured, and as Vice- President of the local medical society.

Pierre N. Tariot, M.D.
Professor of Psychiatry, Medicine and Neurology
University of Rochester

Pierre Tariot, M.D. is a Phi Beta Kappa graduate of Amherst College who attended the University of Rochester School of Medicine and Dentistry.  He completed residencies in Internal Medicine and Psychiatry at the University of Wisconsin in Madison, Wisconsin, and is Board Certified in both specialties.  He served as a Medical Staff Fellow and then Senior Staff Fellow at the Intramural Research Program of the National Institute of Mental Health.  Since 1986, he has been at the University of Rochester Medical Center, where he is now Professor of Psychiatry, Medicine, Neurology, and Aging and Developmental Biology.  Several titles describe his work at the University of Rochester.  He is Co-Director of the University Geriatric Neurology and Psychiatry Clinic, Director of Psychiatry at Monroe Community Hospital and Director of the University of Rochester component of the Alzheimer's Disease Cooperative Study, funded by the National Institute on Aging.  He is a Fellow of the Gerontological Society of America and the American Psychiatric Association, and a member of the American College of Neuropsychopharmacology.  Dr. Tariot has investigated, and lectured extensively on, multiple aspects of diagnosis and therapy for dementia and Alzheimer's disease, recognition and management of behavioral disturbances in long-term care settings, and treatment of depression in the elderly.  He has published over 170 papers on these topics.  He served as the Chair of the Behavioral Pathology Committee of the National Institute on Aging's Consortium to Establish a Registry for Alzheimer's Disease.  He has earned several awards for his research, including the American Geriatrics Society New Investigator Award for Neuroscience, an NIMH Geriatric Mental Health Academic Award, and Fellowship in the Gerontological Society of America.  Dr. Tariot's research affiliations include the National Institute of Mental Health, the New York State Department of Health, the National Institute on Aging, and the Alzheimer's Association.

William Hall, M.D.
Director for the Center of Healthy Aging
University of Rochester

William J. Hall, M.D. is Professor of Medicine and Director of the Center for Healthy Aging at the University of Rochester School of Medicine. He is a nationally recognized expert in geriatrics with a special interest in prevention and health promotion strategies aimed at improving the quality of life for older Americans. He founded the Center for Lifetime Wellness in Rochester, NY, a not for profit program promoting lifestyle modification, exercise, and physical fitness to the Rochester community. Dr. Hall is Past-President of the American College of Physicians.

Tony Wong, Ph.D.
Director of Neuropsychology
Unity Health System, Rochester, NY

Dr. Tony M. Wong received his Ph.D. in 1982 from the University of Southern California.  He later completed a postdoctoral fellowship in clinical neuropsychology at the University of Rochester School of Medicine and Dentistry.  Dr. Wong is currently an associate professor of Physical Medicine & Rehabilitation at the University of Rochester, and is also the Director of Neuropsychology at Unity Health System in Rochester, New York.  His clinical work at Unity Health includes the evaluation and treatment of cognitive and behavioral problems resulting from various brain injuries and other neurological disorders, such as head trauma, brain tumor, stroke, dementia, and others.  In addition to his inpatient and outpatient work at Unity Health System, he also consults at some local nursing homes.  His clinical and research emphases include mild head injury/postconcussive syndrome, brain injury, and cross-cultural factors in neuropsychological assessment and intervention. A Fellow of the National Academy of Neuropsychology, he is also a member of the American Psychological Association (Division of Clinical Neuropsychology) and of the International Neuropsychological Society.

Elissa Orlando
Civilian Guest

Elissa L. Orlando is a 20-year veteran of public affairs programming and multimedia storytelling. Orlando is director of national programming and special projects at WXXI Public Broadcasting. She was producer of the nationally televised Crucible of Freedom companion program to Ken Burns Not for Ourselves Alone.  Orlando has won several New York State broadcasting awards for television news reporting in Somalia Africa, Homestead Florida and other local and national venues.  She is a recipient of the Gracie award for television programming from American Women in Radio and Television, and she is the recipient of a Telly award for her production of the TV documentary Reclaiming the Crescent.  Orlando also received the Woman of the Distinction award from the Jefferson County Women's Conference in 1995. She was formerly TV news and public affairs director at WXXI, where she also served as executive producer, Website editor and news anchor of Need to Know, WXXI's Emmy Award-winning newsmagazine.

Jim Ruppert
Retired Family Therapist
Alzheimer's Disease Patient

Below is panelist Jim Ruppert's personal story about living with Alzheimer's Disease.

Personal History

I am 57 years old and have been madly in love with my wife, Vicky, for the past 35 years. We have a son (Kip) who is about to turn 30. He lives in New Hampshire.  I obtained a master's degree (M.A.) in School Psychology in 1972. Then, after working four years as a school psychologist with Monroe #1 BOCES in Fairport, N.Y., I sought a second master's degree in clinical social work (M.S.W.) at George Williams College (Now Aurora University) in the suburbs of Chicago. Upon our family's return to Rochester I initiated a family therapy service, the Family Life Education and Counseling Service, at BOCES in the fall of 1979. I continued in this capacity until I felt ethically compelled to retire in June 2002.

Family History with Alzheimer's disease

My father, his mother, and one of his brothers died of the disease. My mother lives in a wonderful assisted living facility in Florida and is now is significantly affected by the disease. Genetic testing found that I inherited an APOE-4 gene from both of my parents. As I understand it, only about 5% of people diagnosed with Alzheimer's can be tracked to a genetic inheritance of the disease. The other 95% are as yet unexplained.

Progression of My Alzheimer's

• 1993:  My wife, Vicky began documenting my memory loss.
• 1997:  I had genetic testing that confirmed I inherited APOE4 genes from each parent.
• 2000:   Diagnosed Minimally Cognitively Impaired
• 2002:  Diagnosed with Probable Alzheimer's (This is the last diagnosis possible until confirmation by an autopsy of the brain.

Current Symptoms of Alzheimer's

Severe problems with my short-term memory. For example:

I will leave one room to get something from another and then forget what I was after. This happens multiple times a day. Another example; I can no longer read a fictional book (ex. Tom Clancy novels) as I cannot remember the names of the characters or significant aspects of the plot. I do enjoy Reader's Digest, National Geographic, etc. as these do not stress my short-term memory.
 Significant mental fatigue. This becomes worse when I am under stress. I often need to take one or two naps a day and have to exert an effort to stay focused in conversations with others. Parties and other large gathering of people are stressful for me. Diminishing fine motor coordination and sense of balance. For example, I now have to concentrate when writing a hand written note. I also find it increasingly difficult to put on a sock while standing on one foot.

Ways I Cope With Alzheimer's

Fortunately, the disease thus far has had only a limited effect on my abstract reasoning abilities, creativity, and verbal skills. However, that is beginning to change. Consequently, I feel an urgency to use my talents to fight back against Alzheimer's by doing what I can to educate the public about the disease. (I have purchased quite a few books about various aspects of the disease and have kept my ears and eyes open for any new information in the media.) This helps me experience a sense of competence with a disease that seeks to destroy it.   I have given numerous presentations about our experience locally and have been very active with the Alzheimer's Association. (i.e. For the past two years I have been co-leading a support group for people with early stage dementia, have written an article in the D&C about Alzheimer's in the workplace, co-presented with another person with early stage disease at a workshop at the Alzheimer's Association annual conference in Washington D.C and my wife and I have traveled with people from our local chapter to Albany to lobby our state representatives for a number of initiatives supported by chapters of the Association in New York State. It is also important to stay physically, socially and mentally active. For example: Vicky and I are very involved with our friends; attend baseball games, go to movies, canoe and make Alzheimer's jokes, etc.. I also work out at the gym, do a lot of hiking and kayaking and I occasionally allow my self to have a good cry when I stop to think about what this disease is doing to our family.