Dr. Byers received a new NIH grant: Precursors of Suicide in Older Adults Transitioning from Prison to Community

Narrative: Prison release is associated with exceptionally high rates of suicide and death by unintentional injury (including drug overdose).  This project will demonstrate an innovative method of linking administrative health care data and suicide surveillance data (that includes suicide attempts...

New Publication: Burden of Depressive Symptoms Over 2 Decades and Risk of Nursing Home Placement in Older Women

Objectives To determine the association between cumulative burden of depressive symptoms and risk of nursing home (NH) placement over 2 decades. Design Prospective cohort study with data linked to Medicare claims files. Setting Clinic sites in Baltimore, Maryland; Minneapolis, Minnesota; and...

New Publication: Geriatric Traumatic Brain Injury: Epidemiology, Outcomes, Knowledge Gaps, and Future Directions

This review of the literature on traumatic brain injury (TBI) in older adults focuses on incident TBI sustained in older adulthood ("geriatric TBI") rather than on the separate, but related, topic of older adults with a history of earlier-life TBI. We describe the epidemiology of geriatric TBI, the...

New Publication: Mild TBI and risk of Parkinson disease: A Chronic Effects of Neurotrauma Consortium Study

OBJECTIVE: Our aim was to assess risk of Parkinson disease (PD) following traumatic brain injury (TBI), including specifically mild TBI(mTBI), among care recipients in the Veterans Health Administration.

New Publication: Age-Related Differences in Diagnostic Accuracy of Plasma Glial Fibrillary Acidic Protein and Tau for Identifying Acute Intracranial Trauma on Computed Tomography: A TRACK-TBI Study

Plasma tau and glial fibrillary acidic protein (GFAP) are promising biomarkers for identifying traumatic brain injury (TBI) patients with intracranial trauma on computed tomography (CT). Accuracy in older adults with mild TBI (mTBI), the fastest growing TBI population, is unknown. Our aim was to...

New Publication: Do postconcussive symptoms from traumatic brain injury in combat veterans predict risk for receiving opioid therapy for chronic pain?

Several CPBH investigators participated in a study in which combat Veterans with traumatic brain injury (TBI), chronic pain and postconcussive symptoms were more likely to be prescribed opioid therapy than those without postconcussive symptoms.  This is important because opioid therapy is...

Dr. Kaup received a new pilot grant through the UCSF Resource Allocation Program (RAP)'s "Pilot for Junior Investigators in Basic and Clinical/Translational Sciences."

This exciting pilot project will be an entirely mobile study of cognitive aging.  We will utilize digital health technology, like sensors and apps, to investigate associations between mobile measures of health and lifestyle factors and mobile measures of cognition in older adults. This study will...

Dr. Barnes was nominated as a 2018 Federal Employee of the Year for her pioneering work on the Preventing Loss of Independence through Exercise (PLIÉ) program

Dr. Barnes was nominated as a 2018 Federal Employee of the Year for her pioneering work on the Preventing Loss of Independence through Exercise (PLIÉ) program. The awards ceremony was held on Thursday, June 28, 2018.

Cognition and mobility show a global association in middle- and late-adulthood: Analyses from the Canadian Longitudinal Study on Aging

Abstract Background Given our aging population, there’s great interest in identifying modifiable risk factors for cognitive decline. Studies have highlighted the relationship between aspects of mobility and cognitive processes. However, cognition and mobility are both multifaceted concepts and...

Concussion raises Parkinson's disease risk in large U.S. study

(Reuters Health) - A new study of hundreds of thousands of U.S. armed forces veterans concludes that banging your head severely enough to lose consciousness can dramatically increase the risk of Parkinson’s, the brain disease marked by tremors, slow movements, balance problems and difficulty...