CBS News correspondent Barry Petersen (BSJ ’70, MSJ ’72) will speak Thursday at the Feinberg School of Medicine’s 17th annual Alzheimer Day about his personal encounters with the disease, the University announced Wednesday.
Last year, Petersen published “Jan’s Story,” which details his wife’s diagnosis of early onset Alzheimer’s disease. She was diagnosed at age 55 and eventually had to be placed in an assisted living center.
Petersen will speak at 2:30 p.m. in the Feinberg Pavilion of Northwestern Memorial Hospital at 251 E. Huron St.
Alzheimer Day is presented by Feinberg’s Cognitive Neurology and Alzheimer’s Disease Center.
Mary O’Hara, a social worker employed by the Center, said the purpose of the annual event is not only to bring together researchers and clinicians, but patients and families as well.
According to the Alzheimer’s Association, 5.4 million Americans are currently living with Alzheimer’s disease.
O’Hara said Petersen’s visit during the afternoon town hall event is meant to give a face to the disease.
“His message of caregiving is so important and something we want to highlight,” she said.
Petersen will show a DVD version of the segment of his book that has appeared on “CBS Sunday Morning” and then speak personally about his own experiences with his wife’s diagnosis.
Petersen is an Emmy Award-winning CBS News correspondent.
His career with the network spans more than three decades, reporting on wars, natural disasters, Paris fashions and the return of American Jazz to Shanghai.
He has interviewed Jimmy Stewart, Bill Cosby, Pierce Brosnan and Anthony Hopkins, among others.
His wife Jan was also a television reporter, working for CNN, ABC and “CBS Sunday Morning.”
As Petersen himself reported about his wife in the CBS News story that ran the week after his book was published: “She was lively, daring, one of those people who celebrated life. But at only 40 years old, the subtle changes began…the lapses in memory.”
Feinberg researchers have contributed several breakthroughs in recent years on Alzheimer’s.
The school was involved in a consortium that published findings last month identifying four new genes linked to the disease.
O’Hara said even as the work continues, it is good to set aside a day for reflection.
“If we continue searching for a cure, we really need to support (patients’) families,” she said.
