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Center on Aging/MAGEC
420 Delaware St. SE
Mayo Mail Code 197
Minneapolis, MN 55455
Phone: 612-624-1185
E-mail:
coa@umn.edu |
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University
of Minnesota faculty have the opportunity to pursue research
and study in aging through the Fesler-Lampert Chair in Aging
Studies. In 1999, the Chair was created by the CoA with
support from the University of Minnesota Graduate School and
the generosity of David and Elizabeth Fesler. This endowed
chair funds researchers and scholars who wish to obtain up
to a year’s release time or other support to pursue an aging
related project.
Current and Past
Recipients of the Fesler-Lampert Chair in Aging Studies:
Edgar
Arriaga, Ph.D. is the Fesler-Lampert Chair in Aging
Studies for the 2007-2008 academic year. “In the last
nine years, fruitful multidisciplinary interactions
within and outside the University have been key to the
pursuit of my goals. Maintaining these interactions and
staying active within the group of Scientists in Aging
Research (SAR) requires resources and a directed
focus.” Arriaga intends that this will act as a
catalyst to development of analytical techniques to
investigate molecular changes in aging, to help
revitalize activities conducted through the SAR group
and to participate more actively in the mission of the
University of Minnesota Center on Aging.
Edgar’s
research program will characterize changes within the
mitochondria that are associated with aging, develop and
use analytical techniques that make these
characterizations possible and promote among Ph.D.
students, other personnel, and colleagues an
understanding of the causes and particular social
implications of the aging process.
Edgar Arriaga, PhD
2007-2008
Two specific aims
as Fesler-Lampert Chair in Aging Studies related to this
research program are to develop microanalytical and
proteomic techniques to investigate changes in
mitochondria that are associated with the aging of
skeletal muscle and to recruit faculty and students who
aren’t traditionally trained in gerontology to enhance
the multidisciplinary approach required to move forward
the understanding of the aging process.
Edgar
credits the Scientists in Aging Research group with
inspiring his present interests, applying his training
in Analytical Chemistry and Electrophysiology with the
realization that his research is developing the
analytical tools to overcome several difficulties in
investigating the role of mitochondria in aging.
Click here to link to Edgar's web site:
http://www.chem.umn.edu/groups/arriaga/
The holder of the
Fesler-Lampert Chair in Aging Studies for 2006-07, Christine
Mueller, PhD, RN, FAAN, has been studying nursing home culture
change. As Dr. Mueller states, “defining nursing home culture change
isn’t simple. It begins with the belief that nursing home care in
this country is unacceptable. It calls to question the term
“nursing home” in that it doesn’t provide people with a sense of
home and there are very few professional nurses that work in nursing
homes.” Nursing home culture change is about transforming nursing
homes from an acute care medical model that functions according to
staff-directed schedules and routines to a consumer or resident
directed model that functions according to the preferences and
routines of the residents. Nursing home culture change challenges
the roles and functions of nursing home staff, calls for changes in
the physical environment and structure of the organization, and
requires drastic changes in leadership practices.
Christine Mueller, PhD, RN, FAAN
2006-2007
Nursing home culture change began as a grassroots movement
approximately 10 years ago. Dr. Mueller's frustration with
the limited success of federal and state strategies to improve the
quality of care and life for nursing home residents turned to
hopefulness when she recognized the momentum of this grassroots
movement. New models of resident or person-directed care had turned some
nursing homes into places that were hard to recognize as nursing homes.
As she learned more about these transformational models of nursing care,
she wondered how the role of the professional nurse (RN) and the
director of nursing had been impacted. She also questioned whether
nurses required new and different knowledge and competencies both to
promote and facilitate this culture change in nursing homes and to
effectively function in these transformed organizations.
The
funding Dr. Mueller received as the Fesler-Lampert Chair in Aging
Studies enabled her to visit some of these early adopter nursing homes
and interview nurses and directors of nursing about their perspectives
on the role of the nurse in these homes. She surveyed directors of
nursing throughout the country in nursing homes that were deeply
embedded in culture change. She
also applied her experiences and knowledge about nursing home culture
change in the classroom and developed an undergraduate course module
Nursing Care of Older Adults that focuses on resident directed care,
nursing home culture change, and the pivotal role of the professional
nurse to promote quality of care and life for nursing home residents.
She is a charter member of the Minnesota Coalition for Culture Change.
“I’m grateful for the opportunity to contribute to knowledge development
regarding nursing home culture change as I believe this approach to
nursing home care will have a profound impact on the quality of care and
life for older adults who spend the remainder of their lives in nursing
HOMES,” said Mueller, who is an associate professor and Chair of
the Adult Gerontological Health Co-operative Unit in the School of
Nursing.
Three University of Minnesota professors shared the 2005-2006 Fesler-Lampert Chair in Aging Studies. To strengthen the
University’s aging curriculum, Professors Phyllis Moen,
Michael Davern, and Rosalie Kane created new course
offerings in the sociology of aging, demographics of aging,
and ethics of aging.
From left to right - Professor Rosalie Kane, PhD, B.J
Fesler, Professor Phyllis Moen, PhD,
Professor Michael Davern, PhD
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Diane Treat-Jacobson, PhD, RN
2004-2005 |
Diane Treat-Jacobson, PhD, RN, Assistant Professor
of Nursing, the Fesler-Lampert Chair in Aging
Studies for the 2004-2005 academic year, designed and organized a
multicenter trial of an innovative exercise
intervention to promote functioning and prevent
further decline in persons suffering from the most
extreme form of peripheral arterial disease (PAD),
critical limb ischemia (CLI). PAD is a chronic
condition that results from narrowing of the vessels
that supply oxygen-rich blood to the legs, abdomen,
pelvis, arms, or neck. The disease causes extreme
pain during such activities like walking.
Treat-Jacobson also addressed the need within and
beyond the University Academic Health Center (AHC)
to provide professionals in training and in the
field with more skills and knowledge about exercise,
mobility, and PAD, particularly in the elderly. With
her colleagues, she developed a series of
talks and educational materials, which were piloted in Fall 2005 in the School of Nursing and
then made available to colleagues in the AHC and
professionals via the Minnesota Area Geriatric
Education Center program.
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Deborah A. Ferrington, PhD, Assistant Professor in the
Department of Ophthalmology in the University of
Minnesota Medical School was awarded the Fesler-Lampert
Chair in Aging Studies for the 2003-2004 academic year.
Dr. Ferrington’s research focus has
been on defining the cellular mechanisms of age-related
macular degeneration. She utilized the award to develop
advanced analytical techniques to inform her current
research efforts. Age-related macular degeneration is
the leading cause of blindness among the elderly in the
U.S., and there is currently no preventive treatment nor
is there a cure. In addition to her clinical research,
Dr. Ferrington continues to serve as a mentor to the
next generation of research scientists with an interest
in geriatrics. During her year as Fesler-Lampert Chair
in Aging Studies, she organized a Journal Club to
enhance collaborative research and foster greater
communication among aging researchers and future
scientists. Dr. Ferrington was also successful in
obtaining further funding for her research. The
proposal entitled "The Subproteome in Age-Related
Macular Degeneration" was funded for five years
by the National Institute of Aging. The Principal
Investigator and Co-Investigator of the grant are Drs.
Timothy Olsen and Deborah Ferrington, respectively, from
the Department of Ophthalmology. Their research
integrates clinical analysis of donor eyes (Olsen) and
proteomic analysis of retinal proteins (Ferrington).
Proteomics is a powerful new approach to study protein
properties (ex., expression levels or protein
modifications) and identify specific proteins from a
complex mixture of proteins. Dr. Ferrington expressed
her gratitude for the time and funding available as the
Fesler-Lampert Chair in Aging Studies that enabled her
to secure this important research grant. |
Deborah Ferrington, PhD
2003-2004 |
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Richard DiFabio, PhD
2002-2003 |
Richard DiFabio, PhD,
conducted a project on "The Connection Between Eyesight
and Falls in Elderly" during his year as Fesler Lampert
Chair in Aging Studies (2002-2003). The injuries
associated with tripping, slipping, and falling are
serious problems for older persons living in the
community. For the elderly with just one non-injurious
fall, the risk of long-term admission to a nursing home
is three times greater than for elders with no fall
history. This Chair helped support the development
of cutting edge research to study how older persons
avoid tripping hazards in their environment.
His
work compared eye movement strategies of elderly
persons who have a history of falling with those who
have not fallen to help identify how visual
fixation of objects on the floor influence fall risk and
to eventually develop interventions that will improve
"visual attention" and "visual memory."
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The principal activity of
Dr. Hepburn’s Fesler-Lampert year involved laying the
groundwork for an expanded training approach designed to
assist individuals and families to deal with chronic
illnesses in aging. His interdisciplinary research group
successfully demonstrated that by providing family
caregivers with a multi-session program that helped them
develop their knowledge, skills, and a "clinical"
attitude regarding dementing illness, adverse impacts of
care giving could typically be reduced. Dr. Hepburn also
conducted a series of dinner colloquia on topics broadly
related to thinking about and creating programs to
strengthen self- or family-management of chronic
illnesses. Support from the Fesler-Lampert chair enabled
him to broaden alliances with community organizations
and providers involved in chronic disease management.
The year also enabled him to read far afield from
dementia and to consider chronic disease management much
more broadly.
Two grant applications to the Alzheimer’s Association
and the National Institute for Nursing Research resulted
from the year's activities, with funding for a
3-year project from the Alzheimer’s application. |
Ken Hepburn, PhD
2001-2002 |
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LaDora Thompson PhD, PT
2000-2001 |
LaDora Thompson, PhD, PT, Associate Professor, was the
first recipient of the Fesler-Lampert Chair in Aging
Studies. LaDora has been with the University
since 1993 focusing on aging and geriatric
rehabilitation. She used her role as chair to solidify
her research in skeletal muscle aging, facilitate a NIA
Program Project submission and to champion an effort to
improve the knowledge of the future clinicians and
scientists who will be leaders in the 21st century. Some
of her specific aims were to complete the studies
outlined in the NIH-funded RO3 research grant “Age and
Muscle Strength-The Role of Myosin,” develop a seminar
series with the Basic Science and Research on Aging
group, and to coordinate and submit a NIA Program
Project. |
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