Local Geriatric Specialist Joins JHE Staff

Fairfield –– Andrew H. Banoff, president and CEO of The Jewish Home for the Elderly in Fairfield (JHE), recently announced that Dr Daniel E. Wollman of Newtown has joined the medical staff of JHE.

Dr Wollman’s experience and expertise working in the fields of memory disorders and cognitive impairments will be applied both within JHE for program development and for community education. Dr Wollman will support and develop JHE’s geriatric health and wellness programs for residents and members of the community and direct research, Mr Banoff said.

Dr Wollman recently completed a fellowship program in Geriatrics from Mount Sinai School of Medicine. Previously, he served his residency at St Vincent’s Medical Center, Bridgeport, and at Yale-New Haven Hospital. Dr Wollman received his MD-PhD from the University of Pennsylvania. He is board certified in internal medicine and geriatric medicine.

Dr Wollman’s combined interests in medicine and technology have served both fields well. His teaching experience has ranged from “UNIX Workstations for Scientists” at the Marine Biology Laboratory in Woods Hole, Mass., to “The Art and Science of Medicine” at the Mount Sinai School of Medicine, New York. Dr Wollman was invited by Yale University School of Medicine to lecture on “NMR Physics and Imaging Techniques” and by the Connecticut Alzheimer’s Association to speak at their 2003 conference where he presented, “Developing Integrated Solutions for Alzheimer’s Disease and Related Disorders: Building the Patient-Centered Healthcare Model.”

“These are exciting times to be involved in health care,” Dr Wollman said. “Today more patients are actively involved in their treatment plans and want to have partnerships for care with their practitioners. Widespread computer access to information and other technological advances combined with traditional modalities give us greater opportunities than ever before to work together for wellness.”

Perhaps Dr Wollman’s most challenging experience personally and professionally was spent as a volunteer physician at the World Trade Center on September 11 and in the aftermath of the disaster.  “When I share that experience with audiences we are all still moved by the tragedy,” he said.

Dr Wollman’s work has appeared in numerous books and professional publications, including the Journal of Neuroscience Methods. Among Dr Wollman’s manuals is Programming XV: A Graphics User Interface (GUI) for Application Development under the X Window System. His awards include The Excellence in Teaching Award, Mount Sinai School of Medicine; Marianne Schustek Award for Critical Care and the St Louise de Marillac Award. both from St Vincent’s Medical Center; and the William Al Jeffers Prize for Laboratory Research in Neurology, University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine.

 Dr. Wollman’s work has received financial support and grants from the National Institutes of Mental Health, the National Eye Institute, and most recently, the John Hartford Foundation.

Dr Wollman lives in Newtown with his wife, Dr Debra Ann Pollack, and their daughters Joanna and Caroline. Dr Pollack is director of Gaylord Hospital’s Sleep Services Program, Wallingford.

As part of JHE’s commitment to community education, Dr Wollman will be speaking on “Memory Wellness: Maintaining Cognitive Health,” “Peaceful Coexistence: Alternative Medicines and Traditional Medical Care,” “Medication Safety,” and “Patient Centered Healthcare: An Alternative to a Fragmented Health System.” Any organization that is interested in having Dr Wollman speak on one of these or a variety of health care topics should contact Shelley Berman, JHE’s community relations coordinator, at 203-365-6495 or at sberman@jhe.org.