Small, Gary W(illiam) 1951-

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SMALL, Gary W(illiam) 1951-

PERSONAL: Born July 28, 1951, in Los Angeles, CA; son of Max (a physician) and Gertrude (a psychotherapist; maiden name, Axelrod) Small; married Giselle Vorgan, May 28, 1989; children: Rachel, Harrison. Education: University of California—Los Angeles, B.A. (summa cum laude), 1973; University of Southern California, M.D., 1977. Hobbies and other interests: Crossword puzzles, cinema, classical music.

ADDRESSES: Home—Sherman Oaks, CA. Office—Neuropsychiatric Institute, 760 Westwood Plaza, University of California, Los Angeles, CA 90024. Agent—Sandra Dijkstra, 1237 Camino Del Mar, Suite 515C, Del Mar, CA 92014.

CAREER: Psychiatrist, educator, author. Children's Hospital and Adult Medical Center, San Francisco, CA, intern, 1977-78; Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, resident in psychiatry, 1978-81; University of California, Los Angeles, fellow in geriatric psychiatry, 1981-83, assistant professor of psychiatry and biobehavioral sciences and assistant chief of curriculum coordination for Section on Neuropsychogeriatrics, 1983—, member of professional staff at Neuropsychiatric Hospital, 1986—, director of Geriatric Consultation Liaison Service, 1988—, chairman of pharmacy and therapeutics committee, 1985—, professor of psychiatry, 1995—, director of Imaging and Genetics Core, Alzheimer's Disease Center, 1997—, associate investigator in Department of Energy Laboratory, 1997—; Parlow-Solomon Professorship on Aging, School of Medicine, 1998. Diplomate of and examiner for American Board of Psychiatry and Neurology; Harvard Medical School, clinical fellow in psychiatry, 1978-81, instructor, 1980-81; distinguished visiting professor at Wilford Hall U.S. Air Force Medical Center, 1985. Veterans Administration Medical Center, Brentwood, CA, attending physician, 1981—, staff psychiatrist in Psychogeriatrics Inpatient Unit, 1982-83; member of medical staff of Jewish Homes for the Aging of Greater Los Angeles, 1984—; Geriatric Psychiatry Program, West L.A. VA Medical Center, 1990-96. Public speaker.

MEMBER: International Association of Biomedical Gerontology, International Psychogeriatric Association, World Psychiatric Association, American Psychiatric Association, American Geriatrics Society, American Society for Geriatric Psychiatry, Gerontological Society of America, American Psychosomatic Society, Association for Academic Psychiatry, American Medical Association, American Association of University Professors, American Psychopathological Association, American Association for the Advancement of Science, Authors Guild, Authors League of America, West Coast College of Biological Psychiatry, California Medical Association, Southern California Psychiatric Society, Los Angeles County Medical Association, Los Angeles Alzheimer's Disease and Related Disorders Association (member of board of directors, 1988—), University of California, Los Angeles Faculty Association, Sigma Xi, Alpha Omega Alpha.

AWARDS, HONORS: Grants from National Institute for Mental Health, 1982-83, 1985-86, and National Institute on Aging, 1983-88; Zenith Award, Alzheimer's Association, 1998; Jack Weinberg Memorial Award for Geriatric Psychiatry, American Psychiatric Association, 2000.

WRITINGS:

(Editor, with R. H. Coombs and D. S. Mays) Inside Doctoring: Stages and Outcomes in the Professional Development of Physicians, Praeger, 1986.

(With L. F. Jarvik) Parentcare: A Commonsense Guide for Adult Children, Crown, 1988.

(Contributor) Michael Swash and J. M. Oxbury, editors, Clinical Neurology, Churchill Livingstone, 1988.

(Contributor) B. T. Karasu, editor, Treatment of Psychiatric Disorders, American Psychiatric Association, 1989.

(Contributor) H. E. Kasplan and B. J. Sadock, editors, Comprehensive Textbook of Psychiatry, Volume V, Williams & Wilkins, 1989.

The Memory Bible: An Innovative Strategy for Keeping Your Brain Young, Hyperion (New York, NY), 2002.

Contributor to Year Book of Geriatrics and Gerontology and American Psychiatric Association Annual Review. Contributor of articles and reviews to medical journals. Associate editor of Year Book of Geriatrics and Gerontology, 1987—; book review editor and member of editorial board of Alzheimer's Disease and Associated Disorders: An International Journal, 1985—; member of editorial board of Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry and Neurology, 1986; member of editorial board of Geriatric Times, 2000.

SIDELIGHTS: Gary W. Small is a renowned neuroscientist who specializes in aging. He has lectured extensively throughout the world and appeared on numerous television shows, including the Today show and CBS News. In addition to his many professional journal articles, Small has written for the New York Times, Wall Street Journal, Washington Post, and other publications. He is also the author of books on aging directed to the general public.

In Parentcare: A Commonsense Guide for Adult Children, Small and a fellow psychiatrist write for adults who must care for their aging parents. They provide advice on solving problems and include numerous case histories based on the authors' own patients. The book also features questionnaires for readers and appendixes with information on drugs and nutrition, living wills, power of attorney, and other issues.

Small once told CA: "Adult children must face two major tasks when they have to confront the problems of caring for their own parents. Not only must they identify and solve the practical problems that arise, but they also face a psychological task. Throughout our lives, long after we become adults and have our own families and careers, a part of us still feels like a child. At a psychological level, we perceive our parents as a source of emotional support. When they need our help, when we must provide parentcare, that child in us is forced to grow up. None of us is prepared for this often sad and painful stage of life.

"Parentcare: A Commonsense Guide for Adult Children offers solutions for adult children who struggle with these practical and psychological tasks. It is a detailed guide for adult children who must care for their own parents. My coauthor, Lissy Jarvik, and I hope that one day parentcare will become as familiar a term as childcare is today. By solving the problems of parentcare, we can enjoy and care for that part of our parents that we do love and never want to give up."

In 2002, Small's book on "brain fitness" was published. In The Memory Bible: An Innovative Strategy for Keeping Your Brain Young, Small prescribes numerous steps for keeping the brain young, primarily in the area of counteracting memory loss. The book is based on Small's years of experience as a neuroscientist and on recent scientific discoveries in how food, medicines, exercise, stress, alcohol, and other lifestyle choices affect aging brains. In addition to his "ten commandments" for improving brain performance, Small includes a "brain diet" consisting of foods that may protect memory, effective drugs and other treatments, and a workbook and calendar for tracking your adherence to the fitness program.

Karen McNally of Library Journal thought that some of Small's "memory enhancing techniques . . . seem too cumbersome to be useful." But she also noted, "Small's approach is entertaining yet practical, and the numerous case histories are appealing." BookPage contributor Al Huebner noted, "Small goes beyond the basics to skills that both slow aging of the brain and enrich everyday life." "In a similar manner, his program provides guidelines for optimizing other influences on brain health, such as diet and lifestyle, that will also improve health more broadly."

"Misplacing your keys a couple of times doesn't mean you should start labeling your cabinets," Small said in an article on ABC Online. "Memory loss is not an inevitable consequence of aging. Our brains can fight back."