PHOENIX (Sept. 24, 2020) – Banner Alzheimer’s Institute and Banner Sun Health Research Institute are preparing for the increasing number of individuals with Alzheimer’s disease and related dementias in Arizona by adding four new clinicians. In the next five years, it’s estimated that nearly 200,000 Arizonans will face this devastating disease. The clinical expansion will help the comprehensive memory and research centers, located in Phoenix and Sun City, provide exceptional patient care and service for patients, their caregivers and families, while helping medical colleagues explore innovative and groundbreaking treatments in their fight to end Alzheimer’s.

• Jeremy Pruzin, MD, MHI, is a memory care expert and researcher starting at Banner Alzheimer’s Institute Sept. 28. Dr. Pruzin is board certified in neurology from the American Board of Psychiatry and Neurology. He received his medical degree from Rosalind Franklin University, Chicago Medical School and his Masters of Healthcare Innovation from Arizona State University. Dr. Pruzin has participated in several research studies on Alzheimer’s disease, and is extremely familiar with Banner Alzheimer’s Institute after volunteering as a medical assistant in the memory clinic from 2009 to 2010. He also speaks fluent Spanish. 

• Debra Whitharr, NP, will start Oct. 5 seeing both memory and movement disorder patients at Banner Sun Health Research Institute. Debra Whitharr has been with Banner Health since 2005, working at Banner Del E. Webb Medical Center and Banner Thunderbird Medical Center as a clinical manager and registered nurse. She is a graduate of Grand Canyon University, where she received her bachelor’s and master’s degrees in nursing and nursing education, respectively. Whitharr graduated from Arizona State University this year with her Doctor of Nursing Practice degree with a focus on adult-gerontology nursing. She also volunteers with the Parkinson’s Foundation.

• Parichita Choudhury, MD, FRCPC, is a memory disorders specialist seeing patients at Banner Sun Health Research Institute in November. Dr. Choudhury comes to Banner Health from Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minn. She received her medical degree from the University of Alberta in Edmonton, Canada. Dr. Choudhury is a Fellow of the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada and holds various awards and distinctions. She has authored several published articles, including those that focus on dementia and neurology.

• Linda Herrmann, PhD, NP-BC, will join the Banner Alzheimer’s Institute team, seeing patients by the end of November. Herrmann worked in the Department of Neurological Surgery at New York University Langore Medical Center as a nurse practioner and nurse scientist. She also held a position as a clinical assistant professor at Rory Meyers College of Nursing in New York. Herrmann is no stranger to the Phoenix area, having worked as a nurse at Barrow Neurological Institute/St. Joseph’s Hospital and Medical Center early in her career. She received her Bachelor of Science and PhD from the University of Pennsylvania and has participated in several research projects, some of which focused on brain injury and stroke.

The added team members will help care for the growing number of individuals in the Phoenix area experiencing memory and cognitive disorders. They will also support ongoing clinical trial and research efforts in hopes of ending Alzheimer’s disease before another generation is lost. To make an appointment at the Stead Family Memory Center at Banner Alzheimer’s Institute in Phoenix or the Cleo Roberts Center at Banner Sun Health Research Institute in Sun City, please fill out the new patient packet on our website. Banner Alzheimer’s Institute also has a comprehensive memory and research center in Tucson, the Toole Family Memory Center.

About Banner Alzheimer's Institute

Through its research and care, Banner Alzheimer’s Institute is dedicated to the goal of ending Alzheimer’s disease without losing another generation. Founded in 2006 by Banner Health, one of the country’s largest nonprofit health care systems, Banner Alzheimer’s Institute is a Center of Excellence with a three-fold focus: to conduct revolutionary studies in the detection, treatment and prevention of Alzheimer’s; to set a national standard of patient and family care; and to forge scientific collaborations that bring together institutions and disciplines internationally. For more information visit www.banneralz.org; or to support our programs and services, go to give.bannerhealth.com/alz.