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Arizona State University: Edson College Inaugural Awards Support Dementia Research Projects
Two Arizona State University researchers were recently awarded $25,000 each to pilot projects focused on dementia research.
Amanda Goodman
August 2, 2021
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Two Arizona State University researchers were recently awarded $25,000 each to pilot projects focused on dementia research.
The funding was given out as part of the inaugural Edson Discovery Pilot Awards for Dementia Caregiving from ASU’s Edson College of Nursing and Health Innovation.
The Edson Discovery Pilot Awards for Dementia Caregiving will act as sort of a research incubator, fostering support for new and interesting projects that address a significant knowledge gap or advance current science.
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The recipients are Edson College Professor Linda Larkey and College of Health Solutions Assistant Professor Edward Ofori.
Larkey’s project will test the feasibility of helping family members caring for a loved one with Alzheimer’s disease with a daily practice that uses a device to help focus and calm the nervous system and shift to positive, caring emotions. They’ll do this practice while sitting with their family member to encourage emotionally positive time together.
Other caregivers will instead listen to music for 10 minutes daily to compare to the device-driven time for effects on feelings of caregiver burden, stress and resilience.
“Our team of investigators and I are honored and excited to be a part of this initiative in the college’s rapidly expanding focus on aging and cognitive function and the caregivers who make a difference in the lives of those living with Alzheimer’s disease. Central to this work is the vision of Dr. Yu who is leading this program to support a hub of researchers to build better solutions through collaboration,” Larkey said.
Ofori’s project will examine whether improving visuomotor skills through training can help ease symptoms of Alzheimer’s disease. It will also aim to establish perceptual-motor evaluation and training protocols in preclinical Alzheimer’s disease cohorts.
“It is a great honor to be a part of this inaugural award!” Ofori said. “This award helps my research program to recruit and build a foundation to examine how areas in the brain that are involved with visual integration and motor control impact those with memory loss and other neurodegenerative diseases.”
The awards were made possible through the generosity of Charlene and J. Orin Edson as part of their transformative $50 million dollar gift to Arizona State University in 2019.
In addition to the funds to conduct their pilot research studies, the awards program also provides mentorship and guidance from Edson College Professor and Edson Chair in Dementia Translational Nursing Science Fang Yu.
Ultimately the idea is that these and future projects will obtain strong preliminary data to be used to apply for external grants to continue the research.
“The upfront review and revision of the research protocol will position these projects to generate the preliminary data needed to support future proposals for funding. The consultant and I will continue to work with the awardees during the project implementation and dissemination period to help ensure methodological and scientific merits of the projects,” Yu said.
Edson College Dean Judy Karshmer says the Edson Discovery Pilot Awards for Dementia Caregiving will act as sort of a research incubator, fostering support for new and interesting projects that address a significant knowledge gap or advance current science.
“We know that ASU has some of the best minds in the world when it comes to Alzheimer’s and Dementia caregiving research. So our goal is to encourage these great minds to really go for it and we’ll fund you, guide you and help you test your hypothesis,” Karhsmer said.
Another unique requirement of this new awards program is that the study must involve undergraduate students in a meaningful way, something both of these first projects do.
“This key feature is critical to plant the seeds of research and innovation to grow future generations of researchers and practitioners to affect research, policy, and service for years to come,” Yu said.
The inaugural projects began on Aug. 1.
Applications for the Edson Discovery Pilot Awards for Dementia Caregiving will open on a yearly basis. Dementia caregiving is broadly defined as involving caregivers who provide care to people with dementia, measuring caregiver outcomes or benefiting caregivers.
In order to be considered for selection, specific criteria must be met including that the study is led by an ASU faculty member with the skills and expertise to conduct it.
Arizona State University music alumnus David Earll, who graduated with a Doctor of Muscial Arts in tuba performance in 2014 and is an assistant professor of tuba and euphonium at Ithaca College, was a featured artist at the virtual Finger Lakes Environmental Film Festival, an annual multi-arts, interdisciplinary, cross-media festival in Ithaca, New York, dedicated to showcasing global media projects focusing on issues pertaining to sustainability.
Now in its 24th year, the film festival is held at Ithaca College and is directed by faculty member Patrician Zimmerman, an accomplished pianist and tuba enthusiast.
Alumnus David Earll, assistant professor of tuba and euphonium at Ithaca College.
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“I was introduced to Zimmerman when I first arrived at Ithaca and performed a piece for tuba and trumpet at the festival,” Earll said. “When my album was released in October, Zimmerman contacted me to include my album launch in the next film festival as a featured event.”
Deanna Swoboda, associate professor in ASU's School of Music, Dance and Theatre, conducted the live filmed interview with Earll, which showcases Earll’s playing, his career and his first album release, “Winding Pathway.” The film also included a live Zoom performance with Earll and ASU alumnus Joanna Hersey, Pembroke University professor and president of the International Women's Brass Conference.
“One of the neat things that came out of their conversation was that Zimmerman also asked David to compose and record the main music theme for the event,” Swoboda said. “So, with every film that is shown, you hear tuba music that is an original composition by David. The solo tuba piece that opens and closes the film was also his composition.”
Earll said albums of tuba and euphonium music might seem uncommon to the casual music consumer but recording albums has recently become part of developing a professor’s or performer’s professional portfolio.
Earll’s album features the music of two Arizona composers and former ASU music professors. “Tapestry III” was composed by emeritus professor James DeMars, and “Relentless Grooves Armenia” was composed by emeritus professor Sam Pilafian. Pilafian was also Earll’s teacher at ASU.
“Winding Pathway,” published on the Potenza Music label, was recorded in Arizona at Tempest Recording with sound engineer Clark Rigsby and was produced by Swoboda. ASU alumna Gail Novak was the pianist. The album is available on Apple music, Spotify and Amazon.
Earll initially began his album project in Arizona, recording pieces for job applications. After graduation he entrenched himself in his first teaching position in Wisconsin but realized he had recorded enough work for almost half an album. He decided to complete the album and incorporated more current electronic media and tuba pieces that had become his specialty while touring with ensembles. As he became more familiar with DeMars’ pieces and a new English composer Andy Scott, he selected DeMars, Pilafian and Scott as the heart of his album project.
When completion of the album was delayed due to COVID-19, Earll took the time to focus on recording rights and selecting a title.
“Something good that came out of quarantine and COVID is tapping into our own creativity – having enough time for ideas to come and enough time to actually finish projects that we've started,” Swoboda said. “We shift, we pivot and find new ways. Boredom is the foundation of creativity and sometimes you need that quiet space. This was one of those times for David that’s significant and really great.”
“One of the writers I follow online, Matt England, wrote about the idea that creativity is like breathing,” Earll said. “When you create something, you breathe out. But if you breathe out forever you will die. So, to regain the ability to breathe out, you have to breathe in. This is what the time of COVID has been for a lot of people – a chance to breathe in and fuel that exhale with new energy, and different energy that you can find outside of the energy of creating.”
Besides teaching, Earll maintains an active soloist, chamber musician and clinician schedule. He performs with the Northern Lights Duo, the Cayuga Chamber Orchestra, the International Willson Low Brass Quintet, Symphoria/Syracuse Symphony and the Ithaca Brass. An International Willson Artist, Earll also makes regular appearances abroad and has performed in Hong Kong, Germany, Austria, Switzerland, France, Spain, Norway and the Netherlands.
This press release was produced by Arizona State University. The views expressed here are the author’s own.