Jessica L.Zwerling

Jessica Zwerling, MD, MS, is Director, Montefiore Hudson Valley Center of Excellence for Alzheimer’s Disease; Program Director, UCNS Geriatric Neurology Fellowship; Director, Memory Disorders Center; and Associate Director, Center for the Aging Brain at Montefiore. She is also Associate Professor of Neurology, Assistant Professor of Psychiatry, Assistant Professor of Pediatrics and Clinical Director of the Einstein Aging Study at our Albert Einstein College of Medicine. Her clinical focus is on identifying risk factors for cognitive decline and dementia, as well as factors that promote successful aging.

En 1996, la Dra. Zwerling recibió su Licenciatura en Ciencias en desarrollo humano y estudios familiares en la Universidad de Cornell, así como también obtuvo una concentración en Gerontología. Continuó su educación en el Roswell Park Cancer Institute/Universidad de Buffalo, centrándose en la validación de escalas de calificación de demencia, recibiendo su Maestría en Ciencias en 2000 y su Doctorado en Medicina en 2001. Obtuvo su Doctorado en Medicina con honores de tesis e investigación. Su capacitación de posgrado comenzó con una pasantía en el Beth Israel Medical Center, seguida de una residencia/residencia de jefe en el Montefiore Medical Center. En 2006, completó una beca en enfermedades neuromusculares, electromiografía y neurofisiología en Montefiore. En 2012, completó una beca de investigación de tres años del NIH sobre envejecimiento en el Albert Einstein College of Medicine.

Dr. Zwerling’s research focuses on optimizing healthcare delivery systems and coined the term “culturally competent collaborative care of the cognitively impaired older adult”. Her work has been published in many peer-reviewed journals and has been shared at a number of national invited lectures. She has developed the clinical and didactic programs used to enhance health professionals’ capacity to screen, diagnose and develop personalized plans of care for patients with Alzheimer’s and related dementias for the Montefiore Health System.

Dr. Zwerling has received multiple grants from the Leslie R. Samuels and Fan Fox Foundation for work in memory and gait. This has created postdoctoral programs for trainees in the field of neuropsychology, social work, as well as geriatric neurology. In 2017 and 2019, Dr. Zwerling received the Research Recognition Award in Alzheimer’s Disease at the CaringKind Forget-Me-Not Gala. She was also named one of the New York Super Doctors in The New York Times from 2016 to 2020. Dr. Zwerling is board certified in neurology as well as the subspecialty of neuromuscular medicine by the American Board of Psychiatry and Neurology. She is a member of the American Geriatrics Society and the American Academy of Neurology. Additionally, she has been named “2020 Health Care Hero” by the Westchester magazine.

To meet the needs clinically of our patients/caregivers, I developed and published a new model of care for the community. This model is called the Coordinated Care At Risk/Remote Elderly Program (CCARRE) and focuses on the patient/caregiver dyad. Additional funding supported the expansion of a telehealth depression treatment program for older adults which supported recruitment in our diverse, frail population. Foundation support has provided the ability to provide culturally and language competent assessments/evaluations and management of neurodegenerative diseases and cognitive impairment. Other grant funding supports the implementation of the 5cs program (Comprehensive Culturally relevant Care for Cognitively impaired and their Caregivers – a pathway to equity in health care and model for systems transformation. Current funding for BRAID in conjunction will bridge our research aims and This grant uses the MHS-pioneered BRAID model (Bridging Research, Accurate Information, and Dialogue) where researchers/providers gain a deep understanding of the needs of our diverse and vulnerable population. To aid in clinical trial enrollment/retention, this work focuses on the Age Friendly 4Ms--What Matters, Medication, Mentation, and Mobility and strengthens the collaboration between the health system and the surrounding community.