The Department of Emergency Medicine (DEM) is pleased to announce that recently appointed DEM faculty, Ula Hwang, MD, MPH, received a National Institute on Aging (NIA) Imbedded Pragmatic Alzheimer’s Disease (AD) and AD-Related Dementias (AD/ADRD) Clinical Trials (IMPACT) Collaboratory grant for her project, “Pathway to Detection & Differentiation of Delirium & Dementia in the ED (PD4ED)”. Connecting geriatrics, emergency care, outpatient care, and dementia evaluation, PD4ED will study whether care of the older adult population, many who might have cognitive impairment, can be improved when they interface with the emergency department.
“In an era of widespread inequity and neglect of the elderly, Dr. Hwang’s research, which focuses on evaluating and improving quality of emergency care for older adults, is critically important,” said DEM Chair, Dr. Gail D’Onofrio. “With her impressive history as a dynamic leader in the field of geriatrics and palliative care, Dr. Hwang is an ideal addition to our department. The PD4ED study and the IMPACT Collaboratory’s mission are well aligned with our mission to advance the science and practice of emergency medicine”.
A dedicated physician/researcher, Dr. Hwang is committed to improving the lives of vulnerable patients, in particular veterans and the elderly, through evaluations of geriatric emergency care interventions and geriatric pain care. “I am very excited to join Yale DEM,” said Hwang, “and about the opportunities to expand geriatric emergency medicine and establish new collaborations. I am especially excited that YNHHS will be one of the study sites for PD4ED. Although vulnerable older adults often seek care in the ED, assessment for dementia is not traditionally performed there. We are hopeful that pilot testing and establishing detection and recognition of unidentified Alzheimer’s disease and related dementias in two academic health systems, will provide a pathway for improved care delivery and outcomes in this population.
The IMPACT Collaboratory was established in 2019 to meet the urgent public health need to deliver high quality, evidence-based care to people living with dementia (PLWD) and their care partners within the healthcare systems (HCS) that serve them. The IMPACT Collaboratory accomplishes this mission by building the nation’s capacity to conduct embedded pragmatic clinical trials (ePCTs) among people living with dementia and their care partners through building investigator capacity, funding and supporting the design and conduct of ePCTs, and ensuring the research includes culturally-tailored interventions and people from diverse and under-represented backgrounds.