Briarcliff Student's Research Published in Medical Journal

From the Briarcliff schools

Briarcliff High School’s Jamie Nadler has a very personal reason for choosing to study dementia for her science research project.

“My grandfather passed away from Alzheimer’s disease, a form of dementia,” the senior shared.

Nadler conducted her research on the connection between pain, physical functioning and delirium in people who suffer from dementia with Dr. Ann Kolanowski at Penn State University. Her significant findings were published in the Journal of the American Medical Directors Association under the title, “Pain, Delirium, and Physical Function in Skilled Nursing Home Patients with Dementia.”

“The major takeaway is when individuals with dementia have a higher level of pain, they have a greater amount of delirium and vice versa,” Nadler explained. “My mentor believed the results were strong enough to be published.”

The high school’s science research program challenges students to take on topics to research over three years at BHS.

“This program definitely opened my eyes to the research world,” said Nadler. “I learned how much work goes into conducting a study.”