Norman L. Foster

Norman L. Foster, MD

Languages spoken: English

Academic Information

Departments Emeritus - Neurology

Divisions:

Academic Office Information

Norman.Foster@hsc.utah.edu

Board Certification

  • American Board of Psychiatry & Neurology (Neurology)

Research Interests

  • Neurodegenerative Disorders
  • Alzheimer's Disease
  • Brain Imaging
  • Frontotemporal Dementia
  • PET Markers in Dementia

Dr. Norman Foster is a board-certified geriatric neurologist who has specialized in brain imaging and dementing and neurodegenerative diseases for over 30 years. Following a fellowship at the National Institutes of Health, he joined the faculty of the University of Michigan where he rose to the rank of professor. In 2005, Dr. Foster’s passion for improving Alzheimer's care brought him to the University of Utah, where he helped establish the first academic program in the Mountain West region devoted to caring for Alzheimer's disease and related disorders—the Center for Alzheimer's Care, Imaging and Research (CACIR). CACIR also developed the University of Utah Cognitive Disorders Clinic and the Brain Health Learning Center, the first cognitive specialty clinic in the Mountain West region. This transdisciplinary, multispecialty clinic has become a model for integrating the latest advanced technology and family support with definitive cognitive evaluations and state-of-the art disease management.

Dr. Foster has received multiple grants from the National Institutes of Health, the Veterans Administration, the pharmaceutical industry, and private foundations. He has published more than 160 papers in peer-reviewed journals.

Dr. Foster’s clinical interests are reflected in his research that has included the study of a broad spectrum of neurodegenerative diseases, including Alzheimer’s disease, frontotemporal dementia, and particularly atypical, rapidly progressive, early-onset, focal, or familial Alzheimer’s disease.

Dr. Foster now exclusively conducts clinical research and provides consultation and mentorship to trainees. He is a site investigator for Alzheimer’s disease pharmaceutical drug trials and has focused on the use of positron emission tomography to better understand dementing disorders and improve diagnosis and treatment. He currently is involved in quality of care and pragmatic studies.

Dr. Foster is co-founder and CEO of ProActive Memory Services, Inc., a University of Utah spin-out company that is developing mobile software applications for family and professional dementia caregivers.

Education History

Fellowship National Institute of Neurological & Communicative Disorders
 Fellow
Residency University of Utah School of Medicine
 Resident
Internship Jewish Hospital of St. Louis, Washington Univ Medical Center
 Intern
Professional Medical Washington University
 MD
Undergraduate MacMurray College
 BA

Selected Publications

Journal Article

  1. Schliep KC, Barbeau WA, Lynch KE, Sorweid MK, Varner MW, Foster NL, Qeadan F (2022). Overall and sex-specific risk factors for subjective cognitive decline: findings from the 2015-2018 Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System Survey. Biol Sex Differ, 13(1), 16.
  2. Gurgel RK, Duff K, Foster NL, Urano KA, deTorres A (2021). Evaluating the Impact of Cochlear Implantation on Cognitive Function in Older Adults. Laryngoscope, 132 Suppl 7, S1-S15.
  3. Aylward A, Naidu SR, Mellum C, King JB, Jones KG, Anderson JS, Foster NL, Gurgel RK (2020). Left Ear Hearing Predicts Functional Activity in the Brains of Patients with Alzheimer's Disease Dementia. Ann Otol Rhinol Laryngol, 130(4), 343-349.
  4. Aylward A, Auduong P, Anderson JS, Zielinski BA, Wang AY, Weng C, Foster NL, Gurgel RK (2020). Changes in the Auditory Association Cortex in Dementing Illnesses. Otol Neurotol, 41(10), 1327-1333.
  5. Foster NL, Bondi MW, Das R, Foss M, Hershey LA, Koh S, Logan R, Poole C, Shega JW, Sood A, Thothala N, Wicklund M, Yu M, Bennett A, Wang D (2019). Quality improvement in neurology: Mild cognitive impairment quality measurement set. Neurology, 93(16), 705-713.
  6. Cannon-Albright LA, Foster NL, Schliep K, Farnham JM, Teerlink CC, Kaddas H, Tschanz J, Corcoran C, Kauwe JSK (2019). Relative risk for Alzheimer disease based on complete family history. Neurology, 92(15), e1745-e1753.
  7. Messner DA, Rabins P, Downing AC, Irizarry M, Foster NL, Al Naber J, Dabbous O, Fillit H, Gabler S, Krakauer R, Lotz D, Payzant E, Schneider L, Tyrone J, Van Amerongen D, Wuest D (2018). Designing Trials of Disease Modifying Agents for Early and Preclinical Alzheimer's Disease Intervention: What Evidence is Meaningful to Patients, Providers, and Payers? J Prev Alzheimers Dis, 6(1), 20-26.
  8. King JB, Jones KG, Goldberg E, Rollins M, MacNamee K, Moffit C, Naidu SR, Ferguson MA, Garcia-Leavitt E, Amaro J, Breitenbach KR, Watson JM, Gurgel RK, Anderson JS, Foster NL (2018). Increased Functional Connectivity After Listening to Favored Music in Adults With Alzheimer Dementia. J Prev Alzheimers Dis, 6(1), 56-62.
  9. Hammers DB, Foster NL, Hoffman JM, Greene TH, Duff K (2019). Neuropsychological, Psychiatric, and Functional Correlates of Clinical Trial Enrollment. J Prev Alzheimers Dis, 6(4), 242-247.
  10. Perry W, Lacritz L, Roebuck-Spencer T, Silver C, Denney RL, Meyers J, McConnel CE, Pliskin N, Adler D, Alban C, Bondi M, Braun M, Cagigas X, Daven M, Drozdick L, Foster NL, Hwang U, Ivey L, Iverson G, Kramer J, Lantz M, Latts L, Ling SM, Maria Lopez A, Malone M, Martin-Plank L, Maslow K, Melady D, Messer M, Most R, Norris MP, Shafer D, Silverberg N, Thomas CM, Thornhill L, Tsai J, Vakharia N, Waters M, Golden T (2018). Population Health Solutions for Assessing Cognitive Impairment in Geriatric Patients. Innov Aging, 2(2), igy025.
  11. Perry W, Lacritz L, Roebuck-Spencer T, Silver C, Denney RL, Meyers J, McConnel CE, Pliskin N, Adler D, Alban C, Bondi M, Braun M, Cagigas X, Daven M, Drozdick L, Foster NL, Hwang U, Ivey L, Iverson G, Kramer J, Lantz M, Latts L, Ling SM, Lopez AM, Malone M, Martin-Plank L, Maslow K, Melady D, Messer M, Most R, Norris MP, Shafer D, Silverberg N, Thomas CM, Thornhill L, Tsai J, Vakharia N, Waters M, Golden T (2018). Population Health Solutions for Assessing Cognitive Impairment in Geriatric Patients. Arch Clin Neuropsychol, 33(6), 655-675.
  12. Perry W, Lacritz L, Roebuck-Spencer T, Silver C, Denney RL, Meyers J, McConnel CE, Pliskin N, Adler D, Alban C, Bondi M, Braun M, Cagigas X, Daven M, Drozdick L, Foster NL, Hwang U, Ivey L, Iverson G, Kramer J, Lantz M, Latts L, Maria Lopez A, Malone M, Martin-Plank L, Maslow K, Melady D, Messer M, Most R, Norris MP, Shafer D, Thomas CM, Thornhill L, Tsai J, Vakharia N, Waters M, Golden T (2018). Population Health Solutions for Assessing Cognitive Impairment in Geriatric Patients. Clin Neuropsychol, 32(7), 1193-1225.
  13. Morehead K, Dunlosky J, Foster NL (2017). Do people use category-learning judgments to regulate their learning of natural categories? Mem Cognit, 45(8), 1253-1269.
  14. Duff K, Hammers DB, Dalley BCA, Suhrie KR, Atkinson TJ, Rasmussen KM, Horn KP, Beardmore BE, Burrell LD, Foster NL, Hoffman JM (2017). Short-Term Practice Effects and Amyloid Deposition: Providing Information Above and Beyond Baseline Cognition. J Prev Alzheimers Dis, 4(2), 87-92.
  15. Kauwe JS, Ridge PG, Foster NL, Cannon-Albright LA (2013). Strong evidence for a genetic contribution to late-onset Alzheimer's disease mortality: a population-based study. PLoS One, 8(10), e77087.
  16. Johnson KA, Minoshima S, Bohnen NI, Donohoe KJ, Foster NL, Herscovitch P, Karlawish JH, Rowe CC, Hedrick S, Pappas V, Carrillo MC, Hartley DM (2013). Update on appropriate use criteria for amyloid PET imaging: dementia experts, mild cognitive impairment, and education. J Nucl Med, 54(7), 1011-3.
  17. Johnson KA, Minoshima S, Bohnen NI, Donohoe KJ, Foster NL, Herscovitch P, Karlawish JH, Rowe CC, Carrillo MC, Hartley DM, Hedrick S, Pappas V, Thies WH, Alzheimers Association, Society of Nuclear Medicine and Molecular Imaging, Amyloid Imaging Taskforce (2013). Appropriate use criteria for amyloid PET: a report of the Amyloid Imaging Task Force, the Society of Nuclear Medicine and Molecular Imaging, and the Alzheimer's Association. Alzheimers Dement, 9(1), e-1-16.
  18. Plassman BL, Langa KM, McCammon RJ, Fisher GG, Potter GG, Burke JR, Steffens DC, Foster NL, Giordani B, Unverzagt FW, Welsh-Bohmer KA, Heeringa SG, Weir DR, Wallace RB (2011). Incidence of dementia and cognitive impairment, not dementia in the United States. Ann Neurol, 70(3), 418-26.
  19. Landau SM, Harvey D, Madison CM, Koeppe RA, Reiman EM, Foster NL, Weiner MW, Jagust WJ, Alzheimers Disease Neuroimaging Initiative (2009). Associations between cognitive, functional, and FDG-PET measures of decline in AD and MCI. Neurobiol Aging, 32(7), 1207-18.
  20. Chen K, Ayutyanont N, Langbaum JB, Fleisher AS, Reschke C, Lee W, Liu X, Bandy D, Alexander GE, Thompson PM, Shaw L, Trojanowski JQ, Jack CR Jr, Landau SM, Foster NL, Harvey DJ, Weiner MW, Koeppe RA, Jagust WJ, Reiman EM, Alzheimers Disease Neuroimaging Initiative (2011). Characterizing Alzheimer's disease using a hypometabolic convergence index. Neuroimage, 56(1), 52-60.
  21. Womack KB, Diaz-Arrastia R, Aizenstein HJ, Arnold SE, Barbas NR, Boeve BF, Clark CM, DeCarli CS, Jagust WJ, Leverenz JB, Peskind ER, Turner RS, Zamrini EY, Heidebrink JL, Burke JR, DeKosky ST, Farlow MR, Gabel MJ, Higdon R, Kawas CH, Koeppe RA, Lipton AM, Foster NL (2010). Temporoparietal hypometabolism in frontotemporal lobar degeneration and associated imaging diagnostic errors. Arch Neurol, 68(3), 329-37.
  22. Gabel MJ, Foster NL, Heidebrink JL, Higdon R, Aizenstein HJ, Arnold SE, Barbas NR, Boeve BF, Burke JR, Clark CM, Dekosky ST, Farlow MR, Jagust WJ, Kawas CH, Koeppe RA, Leverenz JB, Lipton AM, Peskind ER, Turner RS, Womack KB, Zamrini EY (2010). Validation of consensus panel diagnosis in dementia. Arch Neurol, 67(12), 1506-12.
  23. Wu X, Chen K, Yao L, Ayutyanont N, Langbaum JB, Fleisher A, Reschke C, Lee W, Liu X, Alexander GE, Bandy D, Foster NL, Thompson PM, Harvey DJ, Weiner MW, Koeppe RA, Jagust WJ, Reiman EM, Alzheimers Disease Neuroimaging Initiative (2010). Assessing the reliability to detect cerebral hypometabolism in probable Alzheimer's disease and amnestic mild cognitive impairment. J Neurosci Methods, 192(2), 277-85.
  24. Landau SM, Harvey D, Madison CM, Reiman EM, Foster NL, Aisen PS, Petersen RC, Shaw LM, Trojanowski JQ, Jack CR Jr, Weiner MW, Jagust WJ, Alzheimers Disease Neuroimaging Initiative (2010). Comparing predictors of conversion and decline in mild cognitive impairment. Neurology, 75(3), 230-8.
  25. Chen K, Langbaum JB, Fleisher AS, Ayutyanont N, Reschke C, Lee W, Liu X, Bandy D, Alexander GE, Thompson PM, Foster NL, Harvey DJ, de Leon MJ, Koeppe RA, Jagust WJ, Weiner MW, Reiman EM, Alzheimers Disease Neuroimaging Initiative (2010). Twelve-month metabolic declines in probable Alzheimer's disease and amnestic mild cognitive impairment assessed using an empirically pre-defined statistical region-of-interest: findings from the Alzheimer's Disease Neuroimaging Initiative. Neuroimage, 51(2), 654-64.
  26. Jagust WJ, Bandy D, Chen K, Foster NL, Landau SM, Mathis CA, Price JC, Reiman EM, Skovronsky D, Koeppe RA, Alzheimers Disease Neuroimaging Initiative (2010). The Alzheimer's Disease Neuroimaging Initiative positron emission tomography core. Alzheimers Dement, 6(3), 221-9.
  27. Foster NL (2008). Strategies for using molecular neuroimaging in dementia. Handb Clin Neurol, 89, 87-95.
  28. Foster NL, Heidebrink JL, Clark CM, Jagust WJ, Arnold SE, Barbas NR, DeCarli CS, Turner RS, Koeppe RA, Higdon R, Minoshima S (2007). FDG-PET improves accuracy in distinguishing frontotemporal dementia and Alzheimer's disease. Brain, 130(Pt 10), 2616-35.
  29. Fletcher PT, Powell S, Foster NL, Joshi SC (2007). Quantifying metabolic asymmetry modulo structure in Alzheimer's disease. Inf Process Med Imaging, 20, 446-57.
  30. Bartok JA, Wilson CS, Giordani B, Keys BA, Persad CC, Foster NL, Berent S (2017). Varying patterns of verbal recall, recognition, and response bias with progression of alzheimer's disease. Neuropsychol Dev Cogn B Aging Neuropsychol Cogn, 4(4), 266-272.

Book Chapter

  1. Foster NL (2012). Neuroimaging. In Weiner MF, Lipton AM (Eds.), Clinical Manual of Alzheimer Disease and Other Dementias (pp. 89-126). Washington DC: American Psychiatric Publishing, Inc.
  2. Foster NL (2011). Molecular Imaging in Neuropsychiatry. In Coffey CE, Cummings JL (Eds.), The American Psychiatric Publishing Textbook of Geriatric Neuropsychiatry (3rd Ed, pp. 177-209). Washington: American Psychiatric Publishing, Inc.
  3. Foster NL (2009). Neuroimaging. In Weiner MF, Lipton AM (Eds.), The American Psychiatric Publishing Textbook of Alzheimer Disease and Other Dementias (pp. 105-136). Washington: American Psychiatric Publishing, Inc.

Conference Proceedings

  1. Khachaturian ZS, Snyder PJ, Doody R, Aisen P, Comer M, Dwyer J, Frank RA, Holzapfel A, Khachaturian AS, Korczyn AD, Roses A, Simpkins JW, Schneider LS, Albert MS, Egge R, Deves A, Ferris S, Greenberg BD, Johnson C, Kukull WA, Poirier J, Schenk D, Thies W, Gauthier S, Gilman S, Bernick C, Cummings JL, Fillit H, Grundman M, Kaye J, Mucke L, Reisberg B, Sano M, Pickeral O, Petersen RC, Mohs RC, Carrillo M, Corey-Bloom JP, Foster NL, Jacobsen S, Lee V, Potter WZ, Sabbagh MN, Salmon D, Trojanowski JQ, Wexler N, Bain LJ (2009). A roadmap for the prevention of dementia II: Leon Thal Symposium 2008. Alzheimers Dement, United States, 5(2), 85-92.

Editorial

  1. Foster NL, Jagust WJ, Fox NC (2013). A peek behind the curtain: amyloid imaging, referrals, and specialist memory evaluations. Alzheimer Dis Assoc Disord, 27(1), 1-3.
  2. Foster NL, Andersen TC, Zamrini EY (2009). Commentary on "a roadmap for the prevention of dementia II. Leon Thal Symposium 2008." Innovations in care that advance Alzheimer's disease drug development. Alzheimers Dement, 5(2), 159-62.

Letter

  1. Porter AB, Healy L, Foster NL, Josephs KA (2007). Compulsive urination as a presenting symptom of frontotemporal dementia. [Letter to the editor]. Eur J Neurol, 14(8), e16-7.

Abstract

  1. Gerard Bischof, Peter Bartenstein, Henryk Barthel, Bart Van Berckel, Vincent Dore, Thilo Van Eimeren, Norman Foster, Jochen Hammes, Adriaan Lammertsma, Satoshi Minoshima, Christopher Rowe, Osama Sabri, John Seibyl, Koen Van Laere, Rik Vandenberghe, Victor Villemagne, Igor Yakushev, amp Alexander Drzezga (05/30/2018). Comparing Amyloid PET Tracers and Interpretation Strategies: First Results from the CAPTAINs Study [Abstract]. J Nucl Med, 2018(59), 485.