New neurologist joins PMDC’s efforts to address growing need for dementia care
By Sean Gorman
James “Trey” Bateman, M.D., M.P.H., works to provide dementia patients a long-sought diagnosis on what specific disorder is causing their life-changing symptoms.
Although difficult to hear, a diagnosis can provide clarity and guide care.
This past fall, Bateman started leading a clinic affiliated with the VCU Parkinson’s and Movement Disorders Center (PMDC) to treat patients with Alzheimer’s disease, Lewy body dementia, frontotemporal dementia such as primary progressive aphasia, and other disorders.
“These disorders are leading to changes in either themselves or someone they love — their personality, their behavior, their ability to interact with the world,” Bateman says. “Being able to help people understand what is happening is something I find very rewarding.”
And it’s something that can be a comfort for dementia patients who often don’t know what disorder is upending their lives, Bateman adds.
“I see a lot of people who are struggling to get an answer because their symptoms are unusual or atypical because of their age, or their symptoms don’t fit the classic Alzheimer’s picture,” Bateman says.
Bateman came to VCU Health from Atrium Health Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center in Winston-Salem, N.C., where he was a behavioral neurologist working with the Alzheimer’s Disease Research Center.
PMDC Director Brian Berman, M.D., says Bateman brings valuable dementia care experience that complements the work of the center’s movement disorders specialists.
At VCU Health, the PMDC director adds, Bateman is building upon the work of a clinic started in 2023 to help Alzheimer’s patients access FDA-approved monoclonal antibody treatments.
Berman says that just like with Parkinson’s, there’s a rapidly growing need to help those living with disorders like Alzheimer’s disease and dementia with Lewy bodies — which can cause movement-related problems in addition to cognitive impairments and other symptoms.
“With Dr. Bateman joining VCU and the PMDC, we're working together to address a massive need in the dementia space that continues to grow in prevalence, and that includes all neurodegenerative diseases,” Berman says. “Parkinson’s, like Alzheimer's, is increasingly more common. Not only is the population aging, but the incidence rate in younger individuals is growing, and we're just seeing a lot more cases come to us.”
PMDC has undertaken other initiatives to support dementia patients. The center helped providers in the VCU Department of Gerontology and School of Nursing formally launch GUIDE — a Medicare-funded program helping patients navigate care. The Lewy Body Dementia Association, meanwhile, has recognized the PMDC as a Research Center of Excellence for the center’s efforts studying that disease.
The dementia clinic’s staff includes Kate Tyre, FNP-C, RN, a newly hired nurse practitioner who is going to work alongside Bateman and see patients with neurological disorders affecting cognition. Brittany Gibson is the clinic’s nurse navigator, and there are plans to hire a social worker dedicated to helping care for dementia patients.
Bateman says the PMDC clinic addresses a lack of sub-specialty dementia care in the Richmond area. He notes that, while dementia care often focuses on challenges impacting daily life, like behavioral and sleep symptoms, new therapies can modestly impact the course of Alzheimer’s disease.
“Patients and their families will leave far better informed about what the diagnosis is and what to expect,” Bateman says about the clinic’s work. “They will have a treatment plan in place that’s realistic and grounded in science, that informs the likelihood of genetic risk. It informs the medications we use. That specificity of diagnosis is often something that people don't get with these conditions.”