GSPH Foster Lecture To Focus on Role of Anti-Dementia Drugs

The latest installment of the Jay L. Foster Lecture Series on Alzheimer’s Disease, presented by Pitt’s Graduate School of Public Health (GSPH), will focus on the effectiveness of anti-dementia drugs.

The lecture, which is free and open to everyone with a scientific or clinical interest in Alzheimer’s disease, will take place at 4 p.m. Nov. 12 in Room A115 of Crabtree Hall.

Lon S. Schneider, professor of psychiatry and neurology in the University of Southern California (USC) Keck School of Medicine and professor of gerontology in the USC Leonard Davis School of Gerontology, will present the lecture titled “Do Anti-Dementia Drugs Really Work? The Effectiveness of Cholinesterase Inhibitors, Memantine, and Antipsychotics.”

Schneider directs the USC State of California Alzheimer’s Disease Research and Clinical Center and the clinical core of the USC National Institute on Aging Alzheimer’s Disease Research Center.

He is involved with two National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) trials and serves as principal investigator of the “CATIE-AD” program, an effectiveness trial of atypical antipsychotics in Alzheimer’s disease; and as coprincipal investigator of the “DIADS-II” trial, an effectiveness trial of antidepressants in Alzheimer’s disease.

Schneider has held several titles with NIMH and is affiliated with the American Psychiatric Association and the World Federation of Societies of Biological Psychiatry. In addition, he is on the editorial staff of several publications, including the Cochrane Dementia and Cognitive Improvement Group and Current Alzheimer Research.

The Foster Lecture Series is managed by GSPH through the support of the Foster Charitable Trust. The family of the late Jay L. Foster established the lecture series to educate researchers, health care professionals, family members, caregivers, and anyone else who is affected by Alzheimer’s disease. The series includes periodic scientific lectures and an annual community lecture.

This lecture can be viewed live on the Web and will be archived online after Nov. 13. Visit www.publichealth.pitt.edu/specialevents/foster2007 for more information.