Tammy Carol Evans, MS, BSN, RN, CPAN, is one of the GRECC Connect VIRTUAL Geriatrics Coordinators for Little Rock.  Tammy is a Registered Nurse with 26 years’ experience in Critical Care, Post Anesthesia Care, and Geriatrics, including the Gerofit Geriatric Walking Clinic RN. Her interests include providing wellness education to older adults to assist them in living longer lives by engaging in regular physical activity in the form of walking.  tammy.evans3@va.gov

Kalpana Padala, MD, MS, AGSF, a geriatrician, is an Associate Director for Clinical Research at GRECC at Central Arkansas Veterans Healthcare System (CAVHS) and Associate professor in the Department of Geriatrics, University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences, Little Rock, AR. She is board certified in Family Medicine and Geriatric Medicine. Dr. Padala is the Medical Director of the Geriatric Walking Clinic, which is funded by the Office of Rural Health and disseminated regionally via Telehealth and nationally with GeroFit program. The geriatric walking clinic is patient-centric, home-based program that implements a comprehensive approach to assess, educate, and motivate older veterans to engage in regular physical activity primarily in the form of walking. She has 10 years of research experience. Her research focuses on improving gait and balance in older adults and to improve exercise adherence. She is the PI of a four-year VA Merit funded study that focuses on the role of executive function on exercise adherence. Dr. Padala’s research has been funded by the Alzheimer’s Association, American Medical Director’s Association, the Department of Veterans Affairs, and the National Institute of Health. Dr. Padala serves a key role in the delivery of GRECC webinars and Geriatric E-Consults.

Prasad Padala, MD, MS, FACHE, is a board certified geriatric psychiatrist. He is the Associate Director for Clinical activities at the VISN 16 Geriatric Research Education and Clinical Center (GRECC) and an associate Professor of psychiatry and geriatrics at the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences. He is the Medical Director for the North Little Rock Memory Clinic, a multidisciplinary referral clinic implementing evidence based practices in the assessment and management of dementia and related behavioral problems. Dr. Padala is expanding the memory clinic to CBOCs via telehealth as part of the GRECC Connect Virtual Geriatrics. He has 12 years of experience in clinical and research management of behavioral problems of dementia with an emphasis on Apathy, a profound loss of motivation with far reaching consequences. He has conducted six RCTs of apathy treatment including pharmacological and non-pharmacological interventions. These studies were funded by the Department of Veterans Affairs, the National Institute of Aging and the Alzheimer’s Association. He enjoys collaborating with colleagues across the US and Canada in research and clinical demonstration projects.

Point of Contact: Prasad Padala, MD (501) 257-2537