UNMC Researcher Receives Vada Kinman Oldfield Alzheimer’s Research Award

Daryl Bohac, Ph.D., an assistant professor in the department of psychiatry

at the University of Nebraska Medical Center, has been recognized as the

third recipient of the Vada Kinman Oldfield Alzheimer’s Research Fund.

The award carries a $10,000 stipend.

Col. Barney Oldfield established the research fund at UNMC in 1999 in

his wife’s honor. She died in 1999 after an 11-year battle with Alzheimer’s

disease. The award is given annually to an individual with a promising

new idea in Alzheimer’s research.

In addition to the $10,000 annual award, the principal of the endowment

is increased by $10,000 each year. Col. Oldfield has said that once a cure

is found, the money will be redirected to battle other disorders of old

age.

“I’m quite humbled to be selected as this year’s recipient,” Dr. Bohac

said. “I only represent a teamfor things like this to happen there has

to be an environment for that to take place.”

He acknowledged the Oldfields for their generous contribution, as well

as the work and support of William Burke, M.D., vice chairman of the department

of psychiatry; Jane Potter, M.D., section chief of the department of geriatrics

and gerontology; Don Johnson, Ph.D., of the department of pathology/microbiology;

his wife, Kristie Bohac, M.D., and their two children; and the many families

of Alzheimer’s patients.

“This is bigger than all of us,” said Dr. Bohac, who joined the UNMC

faculty in 1997. “We need all of us working together.”

  Col. Oldfield did not attend the award ceremony, but relayed

the following message to ceremony attendees: “Vada would want you to do

all that you can, with all that you have within your talents and abilities,

to find some hope for this debilitating disease.”

 

Dr. Bohac’s responsibilities include neuropsychological assessment

and coordination of clinical research activities. His research is on the

biopsychosocial aspects of caregiver stress. The study, supported by the

Oldfield Research Fund, focuses on the relationship between levels of perceived

stress and biological markers of immune system functioning in caregivers

of persons with dementia.

Past recipients of the award are UNMC’s Vince Thomas, Ph.D., (1999)

and Tsuneya Ikezu, M.D. (2000).

Prior to joining UNMC, Dr. Bohac was the education and family services

director for the Mayo Alzheimer’s Disease Center at the Mayo Clinic department

of psychiatry and psychology, section of neuropsychology. He also served

as an assistant professor of psychology in the Mayo Medical School. A Lincoln

native, he earned his master’s and doctorate from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln.

He has been a member of the Armed Forces for 23 years.

In presenting the award to Dr. Bohac, Ardyce Bohlke, executive director

of Dollars for Scholars and a former state senator, said: “We very much

appreciate the wonderful work you do here in the area of researchto bring

hope to families who suffer from this awful disease.”