Alzheimer’s Disease has become an immense topic as of late, as more and more individuals are affected by it, whether directly or indirectly with a loved one. Dr. Mary Kay Ross, MD, FACEP joins us to discuss the current status of Alzheimer’s disease in the U.S., along with the stigma and misconceptions associated with the treatment, as well as causes and outcomes available today. Dr. Ross will review the known causes (or drivers) of the disease and the lifestyle changes necessary to help stop its progression. Dr. Ross' webinar, Alzheimer’s Disease: the Silent Plague – A 21st Century Precision Medicine Approach, is now available for review in the Hawthorn Webinar Archives.
Dr. Ross will discuss how to evaluate a client with cognitive decline, as well as the labs and necessary workup for the proper evaluation and assessment. She will also discuss how to design a program for a client and will conclude with case studies and outcomes.
At the conclusion of the lecture, attendees should be able to recognize a client with cognitive problems, assess the client correctly and be able to determine the drivers of the disease. Participants should be able to initiate the appropriate workup and prepare a reasonable functional program for all clients with cognitive decline. Finally, she will discuss future potential treatments and adjuncts to assist with ongoing treatment.
Dr. Mary Kay Ross obtained her medical education at the University of Louisville School of Medicine and completed her residency training in emergency medicine in 2000 at Wright State where she served as chief resident.
Following graduation and for the next eleven years, Dr. Ross worked as an attending physician in trauma centers in both Virginia and Georgia. She has held faculty positions at both Eastern Virginia Medical School and Mercer University teaching residents and medical students. During this phase of her career, working long and sometimes grueling shifts - she realized that there was something terribly wrong with the current medical model. It was obvious to her, that the hospital system was being overburdened by patients with chronic illnesses that were not being treated effectively. The door of the emergency room was in fact a revolving door.
In 2012, Dr. Ross found herself on the other side of the medical system. Her own real-life lesson came when she herself became a patient in the ER domain she oversaw. She suffered a serious illness as a result of a very serious mold exposure that produced debilitating symptoms. She ultimately found herself in the cardiac cath lab. This illness eventually led Dr. Ross to give up the emergency room work she had loved so much. Desperately seeking answers to her own illness from physicians that were her peers, and disappointed with limited treatment options, she sought in another direction searching for answers and better options.
Dr Ross quickly realized that many chronic health problems could be prevented. She learned that only by treating the underlying causes of chronic illness, could true healing be achieved. As this paralleled the mission of Functional Medicine, she devoted herself to learn as much as she could about this new approach to healing. She enrolled in the Institute for Functional Medicine and completed all of the modules as quickly as possible. Though Dr. Ross was voracious for the knowledge, her primary mission was an effort to save her own life.
This experience would change her practice of medicine and her career forever. Dr. Ross founded The Institute for Personalized Medicine in Savannah, GA late in 2012 committed to treating her patients using Functional Medicine.
In 2016, she teamed with Dr. Dale Bredesen. Together they applied her knowledge and clinical expertise with his scientific research gained from over 30 years in the lab. As a team they sought to bring the best solution to patients impacted with cognitive decline. Dr. Ross proudly served as the Founding Chief Medical Officer for MPI Cognition until August of 2018 when the company was ultimately sold.
Dr. Ross is presently the Founder and CEO of the Brain Health & Research Institute (BH&RI) in Seattle, WA. The Brain Health & Research Institute is honored to be partnered with the Institute for Systems Biology (ISB). This esteemed research facility is headed by Drs. Leroy Hood and James Heath. The partnership represents the marriage of science and medicine. It is their goal that research results from the laboratory, will be able to be quickly adapted into clinical practice. BH&RI will open its doors to patients on September 1, 2019.
Today, Dr. Ross is actively engaged on enhancing a multimodal, precision medicine approach addressing all aspects of brain health. She firmly believes that this is an exciting time to be practicing medicine. Dr. Ross has assembled a team of the brightest and best from across the country to deliver care at her new institute. She is committed to her beliefs and is passionate about the medicine she practices. She is a tireless patient advocate and is relentless in her pursuit for solving complex medical cases.
Disclaimer: The webinars may present information that does not fully reflect Hawthorn University’s philosophy. Nonetheless, these presentations have been chosen because of their overall quality of information.
Dr. Mary Kay Ross, MD, FACEP
