The College of Public Health has welcomed nine new faculty this fall. Join us as we get to know Andrew Kiselica, Magnolia Hernandez, Renato Ferreira Leitao Azevedo, Jacob Harth, Chao Huang, Cynthia Carmean, Liyuan Wang, Eunhae Shin and George Mois! Kicking off our series is Andrew Kiselica, Ph.D., who is stepping into the role of Associate Professor in the Institute of Gerontology. He is a board-certified clinical neuropsychologist and also provides clinical services, education, and outreach to diverse older adults through the Cognitive Aging Research and Education (CARE) Center.

• Can you tell us about your background?
  I am trained as a clinical neuropsychologist, and my job with patients has primarily been to make diagnoses of mild cognitive impairment and dementia. I often refer to this responsibility as giving bad news for a living, and I was frustrated at the lack of options I could provide to patients and their families after giving a diagnosis. This frustration drove me to develop and test technology-based solutions for dementia care.
• What brought you to UGA and the College of Public Health?
  I was excited about UGA because of the potential to join the Institute of Gerontology. Previously, I did not have a group of people in a central location who were also focused on older adults and dementia. I am thrilled to be joining a team all working towards the same goal of improving life for older adults throughout the state of Georgia.
• What excites you or motivates you about being in the classroom and your research?
  I am motivated by personal experiences of both of my grandfathers developing dementia and seeing the impacts of their illnesses on my grandmothers and our extended family. To be able to train a workforce that could help people in similar situations and develop technology-based solutions that might make their lives better is very rewarding.
• How have you partnered with communities to improve health? Is there service or outreach work you’d like to do in Athens or Georgia?
  In my previous position at the University of Missouri, I was able to develop a patient registry of older adults interested in research and work with an organization called the Senior Network to spread information about services and research findings, in addition to recruiting participants from the community. I’m very excited to continue similar work through the Cognitive Aging Research and Education Center, its partners, and the UGA Extension team.
• What are you looking forward to this Fall semester?
  I’m looking forward to getting to know my colleagues and learning my way around the CARE center. Hopefully, there will also be a chance to head up to the mountains in Chattahoochee and catch my first Bulldogs game.
• A few fun rapid-fire questions:
  • Go-to road trip snack? Peach rings
  • Coffee or tea order? I don’t drink it!
  • One TV show or podcast you can’t stop talking about? Fargo