Faculty
University of Kentucky
Professor of Neurology
Director, UK Telemedicine Cognitive Clinic
Alzheimer’s Disease Center at Sanders-Brown Center on Aging
Dr. Jicha received his M.D. & Ph.D. degrees at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine as an NIH-funded Medical Scientist Training Program Scholar. He went on to complete his Medical Internship, Neurology Residency, and Behavioral Neurology Fellowship at the Mayo Clinic, Rochester, MN. He is currently a Professor and Vice Chair for Academic Affairs in the Department of Neurology and Associate Director for the Sanders-Brown Center on Aging and the Robert T & Nyles Y McCowan Endowed Chair in Alzheimer’s Research at UK.
His current research interests lie in the areas of preclinical dementia states, mild cognitive impairment, vascular contributions to dementia, and clinical trials of disease modifying therapies for degenerative dementias. He has been continuously funded through numerous extramural grants since his matriculation at UK in 2005.
Dr Jicha serves as the Director of the Clinical Core of the UK, NIH/NIA-funded, Alzheimer’s Disease Center, founder and director of the Rural KY Telemedicine Cognitive Clinic, the principle investigator at UK for the National Alzheimer’s Disease Cooperative Study (ADCS) Group, the Alzheimer’s Clinical Trial Consortium (ACTC), the NIH/NINDS MarkVCID consortium, and chairs the Clinical Task Force and Steering Committee for the NIH/NIA Alzheimer’s Disease Center Program. He has served as Chair of the American Academy of Neurology Geriatric section, and as Chair for the International Alzheimer’s Association Clinical Trials Advancement and Methodology Section. He was a founding member of the International Working Group on AD and the International Society for Frontotemporal Dementia. He was nominated this year as a Member of the National Academy of Medicine.
University of Kentucky
Professor of Neurology, Neurosurgery, Psychiatry, Behavioral Science, and Psychology
Alzheimer’s Disease Center at Sanders-Brown Center on Aging
Dr. Frederick Schmitt has 30+ years’ experience in dementia and clinical trials. He has published over 300 peer reviewed papers; serves as a grant reviewer for the National Institutes of Health; and, has been instrumental in various research studies such as brain-behavior associations in neurological diseases with a focus on early detection of dementia, outcomes of therapeutic interventions in Alzheimer’s disease, and aging of frontal structure and function in Down syndrome and dementia.
He received his PhD in Life Span Psychology from the University of Akron, Akron, Ohio, and completed postdoctoral training in Neuropsychology and Geriatric Psychiatry at Duke University Medical Center.
Dr. Frederick Schmitt’s clinical interests include biostatistics, dementia, and other neurodegenerative disorders. Schmitt is the Mary Carter Award recipient for his work with patients with Down syndrome and neurodegenerative diseases, the Distinguished Career Award recipient by the Kentucky Psychological Association and is a nationally and internationally renowned expert on neurodegenerative conditions including Alzheimer's disease. He has been a principal investigator and consultant on numerous grants from the National Institutes of Health and other federal and state funding mechanisms. He has four decades of clinical experience in neurocognition. Dr. Schmitt is a Fellow of the Gerontological Society of America.
Neurology APRN, Family APRN, and MAT APRN at Family Health Care Clinic, PSC.
Bobbie Adams, APRN, is an accomplished healthcare provider with over three decades of experience across clinical practice, education, community health leadership, and research. She began her nursing career by earning an Associate Degree of Nursing from Eastern Kentucky University in 1991, followed by a Bachelor of Science in Nursing in 1999 and a Master of Science in Nursing as a Nurse Practitioner in 2001, both from the same institution.
Ms. Adams’ professional career started as a Staff Registered Nurse at the Veterans’ Administration Medical Center in Lexington, Kentucky, where she gained experience in medical/surgical, emergency, and outpatient settings. As her career progressed, she became an Advanced Registered Nurse Practitioner in both internal medicine and vascular surgery, notably at the University of Kentucky’s Division of General Surgery in Lexington, Kentucky. Ms. Adams later founded and operated Rejuve Med Spa and Family Practice, combining her clinical expertise with entrepreneurial leadership. Next, Ms. Adams served as a Neurology Nurse Practitioner at Baptist Health Neurology in Richmond, Kentucky. Currently, she practices as a Neurology APRN, Family APRN, and MAT APRN at Family Health Care Clinic, PSC.
A dedicated educator, Ms. Adams has taught and mentored nursing students at Eastern Kentucky University and served as a clinical preceptor. She is a passionate community health advocate, having founded Madison County’s first Parkinson’s Disease support group and collaborated with local organizations to improve rural health. She has served on the VA’s Nurse Professional Standards Board, and her innovative work in neuro/ophthalmic tumor imaging has been honored.
Ms. Adams holds leadership roles in several professional organizations, including the Kentucky Coalition of Nurse Practitioners and Midwives (Region 5 President, 2008–2012), Kentucky Nurses Association, and Society of Vascular Nurses. She is a Certified Neuroscience Registered Nurse (CNRN) and has received numerous honors, including the Kentucky Colonel award, the Veterans Hospital Director’s Award, and the Clinical Excellence Award from EKU.
Her research contributions include being a research participant through publication in JAMA on the rupture rate of large abdominal aortic aneurysms, as well as leadership and collaboration on multiple grant projects focused on rural health, cancer prevention, and workforce development in Appalachia. She has also conducted and presented research on traumatic brain disorder with pseudobulbar defect, sharing her findings at educational events across the country.