Freddi Segal-Gidan, PhD, PA-C

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  Freddi Segal-Gidan, PhD is a physician assistant and gerontologist. She Is the director of the Rancho/USC Alzheimer’s Disease Research Center of California in Los Angeles, where she has been a member of the interdisciplinary team since 1989. Dr. Segal-Gidan holds appointments as assistant clinical professor, Departments of Neurology and Family Medicine in the Keck School of Medicine, USC, and assistant clinical professor of gerontology at the L. Davis School of Gerontology at USC. She is the director of the physician assistant postgraduate training fellowship in geriatric neurology at USC.

  Dr. Segal-Gidan received her medical training at the Johns Hopkins University, Health Associate Program, Baltimore, Maryland. She completed the first clinical fellowship training in geriatrics for a physician assistant in the country, funded by the State of California, through the USC Department of Family Medicine, Primary Care Physician Assistant training program in 1985. Dr. Segal-Gidan was awarded her doctoral degree in gerontology-public policy from the USC Leonard Davis School of Gerontology.

  Dr. Segal-Gidan has been a clinician for over 25 years and devoted most of that to the care of older adults. Her work combines clinical care, research, and teaching. Her research interest is in chronic disease and aging, and the intersection of health care decision-making and public policy. She is currently involved a study of dementia in Spanish-speaking individuals who are part of a lager community-based population health study in La Puente, California and a project focused on improving identification of at-risk drivers with dementia. Dr. Segal-Gidan is a well-respected leader in the physician assistant and geriatric provider community.  She is a sought-after lecturer on a variety of geriatric health topics, including dementia, Alzheimer’s disease, stroke, and chronic disease. She has developed and taught numerous courses in geriatrics and gerontology for undergraduates and health professionals, including several as part of the on-line master degree program at the USC Davis School of Gerontology. She was appointed by Governor Wilson and served 2 terms on the State of California Alzheimer’s Disease Advisory Board. Currently, Dr. Segal-Gidan is a member of the Board of Directors of the Alzheimer’s Association, California Southland and was recently appointed as a member of their Medical Scientific Advisory Board.