So What is This About?

My interest in dementia began with my work as the Chief of the Neurology Service at the Fargo, North Dakota VA Medical Center, where I had a number of patients with Parkinson's disease who also had signs of dementia. Subsequently, in 1983, I became involved in performance of the brain autopsies for one of the first NIH supported dementia research programs (the Alzheimer's Disease Research Center at the University of Rochester Medical Center). These positions were but two of the stops in my diverse medical career.

After graduating in 1971 in the inaugural class of the Pennsylvania State University College of Medicine at the Hershey Medical Center, I trained in pediatrics at Johns Hopkins Hospital and in neurology at the Washington University in St. Louis and at the National Institutes of Health (NIH). I then took the position in Fargo, but to broaden my involvement in dementia research, I pursued residency training in neuropathology at the University of Rochester. Upon completion of that training, I was recruited to head the neuropathology programs at the University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center and the Oklahoma City VA Medical Center. Working with the Oklahoma City Chapter of the Alzheimer's Association, I was able to establish a brain bank and dementia autopsy program, which helped jump-start several research laboratories and gave impetus to efforts to develop an Alzheimer's disease clinical center at the Oklahoma VAMC. That clinical center provided medical care, education, and research with a focus on improving caregiving for Alzheimer's disease patients. I joined the board of directors of the Oklahoma City Alzheimer's Association chapter and undertook a weekly column (entitled “Ask Dr. B.”) for the senior's page of the local newspaper.

Upon assuming the position of Chairman of the Department of Pathology at the Creighton University School of Medicine, I began working with the Midlands Chapter of the Alzheimer's Association and started the collaboration that led to the two books produced by CaringConcepts, Inc.

For more information about Roger, visit www.rogerbrumback.com.