Mindy Katz, MPH

JAD profile

Affiliation(s): 

Albert Einstein College of Medicine

Areas of Interest: 

early detection, Subjective Cognitive Decline (SCD), perceived stress, incidence of MCI and AD

Biography & Research: 

. My recent research interests have focused on the characterization of cognitive impairment, and dementia within demographic subgroups of population-based cohorts. In particular, my work has focused on describing the incidence and prevalence of amnestic mild impairment, non-amnestic mild impairment, Alzheimer’s disease and all dementias in community based samples not drawn from specialty clinics. The identification of groups at risk for AD or dementia will help plan for present and future public health needs. This work involves descriptions of multi-ethnic subgroups and harmonization across studies as shown in the following publications: a. Katz, M. J., Lipton, R. B., Hall, C. B., Zimmerman, M. E., Sanders, A. E., Verghese, J., Dickson, D. W., & Derby, C. A. Age and sex specific prevalence and incidence of mild cognitive impairment, dementia and Alzheimer’s disease in blacks and whites: A report from the Einstein Aging Study. Alzheimer’s Disease and Associated Disorders, 26, 335-343; 2013. PMCID: PMC3334445 b. Sachdev,PS, Lipnicki, DM, Crawford,JD, Rockwood K, Xiao S, Li, J, Li X, Brayne, C, Matthews, FE, Stephan, BCM, Lipton, RB, Katz, MJ, et al. COSMIC (Cohort Studies of Memory in an Internal Consortium): An international consortium to identify risk an protective factors and biomarkers of cognitive ageing and dementia in diverse ethnic and sociocultural groups. BMC Neurology, 2013, 13:165. PMCID: PMC3827845 c. Derby C.A., Katz, M.J., Lipton, R.B., Hall, C.B. Trends in dementia incidence in a birth cohort of the Einstein Aging Study. JAMA Neurology, 74(11):1345-1351; 2017. PMCID:PMC5710583 d. Abner, E.L., Schmitt, F.A., Nelson, P.T. et al (SMART Project). The statistical modeling of aging and risk of transition project: data collection and harmonization across 11 longitudinal cohort studies of aging, cognition, and dementia. Observational Studies 1:56-73, 2015. PMCID: to be assigned (accepted for publication) 2. Due to the long term preclinical course of AD, it is essential to target persons with objective memory impairment, subjective memory complaints, or both, and who have not been diagnosed with clinical dementia to enroll in clinical trials aimed at delaying or preventing the onset of AD. In the absence of definitive markers that can be administered to entire communities to screen for cognitive decline, it is imperative to develop practical methods to achieve these goals. Identifying screening tools that have sensitive, specific, and reliable properties are crucial for secondary clinical trials to be effective. My work in this area is highlighted in the following publications: a. Derby, C. A., Burns, L. C., Wang, C., Katz, M. J., Zimmerman, M. E., L’Italien, G., Guo, Z., Berman, R. M., & Lipton, R. B. Screening for predementia AD: Time dependent operating characteristics of common episodic memory tests. Neurology, 80, 1307-1314; 2013. PMCID: PMC3656458 b. Rabin, L.A., Wang, C., Katz, M.J., Derby, C.A., Buschke, H., Lipton, R.B. Predicting Alzheimer’s disease: neuropsychological tests, self-reports, and informant reports of cognitive difficulties. J Am Geriatr Soc. 2012 Jun;60(6):1128-34. PMCID: PMC 3375855 c. Lipton RB, Katz MJ, Kuslansky G, Sliwinski MJ, Stewart WF, Verghese J, Crystal HA, Buschke H. Screening for Dementia by Telephone Using the Memory Impairment Screen. J Am Geriatr Soc. 2003 Oct; 51:1382-1390. d. Buschke, H., Kuslansky, G., Katz, M., Stewart, W.F., Sliwinski, M., Eckholdt, .M., Lipton, R.B. Screening for dementia with the memory impairment screen (MIS) Neurology 2:231-238, 1999. 3. I have a longstanding interest in identifying remediable risk factors that may lead to the prevention Alzheimer’s disease and mild cognitive impairment, the precursor to AD. Based on the novel aims of the Einstein Aging Study to examine pain, stress and vascular risk factors that influence both glucocorticoid and vascular pathways which may lead to alterations in brain structure and function and ultimately to cognitive decline, I have had the opportunity to explore the relationships of these mechanisms to neurodegeneration as illustrated in the list of publications below: a. Katz, M.J., Derby,C.A.,Wang,C., Sliwinski, M.J.., Ezzati, A., Zimmerman, M.E., Zwerling, J., M.S., Lipton, R.B. The influence of perceived stress on incident amnestic mild cognitive impairment: Results from the Einstein Aging Study. Alzheimer Dis Assoc Disord, 2015 Dec 10;epub ahead of print. PubMed PMID: 26655068. b. Scott, S.B., Graham-Engeland J.E., Engeland, C.G., Smyth, J.M., Katz, M.J., Lipton, R.B., Mogel, J.A., Munoz, E., Ram, N., Sliwinski, M.J. The effects on cognitive aging, physiology and emotion (ESCAPE) project. BMC Psychiatry, 6:7837, 2015. PMID: 26138700 c. Graham, E.K., Rutsohn J.P., Turiano N.A., Bendayan R., Batterham P.J., Gerstorf D, Katz M.J., Reynolds C.A., Sharp E.S., Yoneda T.B., Bastarache E.D., Elleman L.G., Zelinski E.M., Johansson B., Kuh D., Barnes L.L., Bennett D.A., Deeg D.J.H., Lipton R.B., Pedersen N.L., Piccinin A.M., Spiro A. 3rd, Muniz-Terrera G., Willis SL, Schaie K.W., Roan C., Herd P., Hofer S.M., Mroczek D.K. Personality Predicts Mortality Risk: An Integrative Data Analysis of 15 International Longitudinal Studies. J Res Pers. 2017 Oct;70:174-186. doi: 10.1016/j.jrp.2017.07.005. Epub 2017 Jul 22. PMCID:PMC5722274. d. Zimmerman, M. E., Bigal, M. E., Katz, M. J., Brickman, A. M., & Lipton, R. B. Sleep onset/maintenance difficulties and cognitive function in nondemented older adults: the role of cognitive reserve. Journal of the International Neuropsychological Society, 18, 461-470; 2012. PMCID: PMC3682475 4. In my early career, my work focused on the longitudinal characterization of mentally challenged young adults in communities where school and medical records were readily accessible. In particular, the mentally retarded individuals within the Aberdeen Cohort of the 1950s and their background and follow-up information for study of their life course and intergenerational influences on health and well-being were examined. I studied factors that explained mental, physical and social performance later in life and was responsible for epidemiological and statistical analyses of this subset of the cohort. a. Richardson, S.A., Katz, M., Koller, H., McLaren, J., & Rubinstein, B. Some characteristics of a population of mentally retarded young adults in a British city. J. Ment. Defic. Res., 23, 275-285, 1979. b. Koller, H., Richardson, S.A., & Katz, M. The prevalence of mild mental retardation in the adult years. J. Ment. Defic. Res., 28, 101-107, 1984. c. Richardson, S.A., Koller, H., & Katz, M. Continuities and change in behavior disturbance: A follow-up study of mildly retarded young people. Amer. J. Orthopsychiat., 55:2,220-229, 1985. d. Richardson, S.A., Koller, H., & Katz, M. Factors leading to differences in school performance of boys and girls. Journal of Developmental and Behavioral Pediatrics, 7, 1, 49-55, 1986. Complete List of Published Works in MyBibliography: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/sites/myncbi/mindy.katz.1/bibliography/47720733/public/?sort=date&direction=ascending