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Dr. Arthur Dalton, 76, died June 17, 2013 after a brief illness. He was born in 1937 in Alberta, Canada and spent his early childhood in Edmonton. Dr. Dalton received his undergraduate and graduate degrees in psychology from McMaster University in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada. His Ph.D. was in behavioral psychology. Prior to his retirement from the New York State Office for People with Developmental Disabilities, he was the Director of the Center for Aging Studies at the New York State Institute for Basic Research in Developmental Disabilities (IBR/DD) on Staten Island, New York.
Dr. Dalton had been involved in research on Alzheimer disease for more than 25 years, focusing on the connection with Down syndrome, the development of behavioral and biological markers, and treatment methods. Before moving to New York in 1990, he was based at Surrey Place Centre in Toronto, Ontario, and held an appointment at the University of Toronto's Department of Physiology. In Toronto, he pioneered the study of aging and Alzheimer dementia in people with Down syndrome. He established a mobile dementia clinic for adults with Down syndrome, and set a precedent for monitoring individuals longitudinally to check for signs of neurocognitive or neurobehavioral decline, with each person serving as his or her own control.
Dr. Dalton's ability to develop dementia screening instruments has had great impact in the Alzheimer disease field generally, as well as specifically with Down syndrome. While at Surrey Place, Dr. Dalton developed the Dyspraxia Scale for Adults with Down Syndrome, which has gained international use in clinical screening for early signs of dementia. Between 1985 and 1991, he was the co-principal investigator, along with Drs. Donald McLachlan and Theo Kruck, of a Surrey Place Centre- University of Toronto phase II clinical trial of desferrioxamine, given by intramuscular injection, in people with moderate Alzheimer disease. While in Toronto, Dr. Dalton was the visionary behind a plan to develop an institute dedicated to dementia research. With Dr. McLachlan, his plan took root and bore fruit in the form of the internationally renowned University of Toronto Tanz Centre for Research in Neurodegenerative Diseases. When in Toronto, Dr. Dalton also gave much to the community, including being one of the founders of the Alzheimer Society of Canada, of which he was a President.
Dr. Dalton's impact in the field of intellectual disabilities continued after relocating to New York. As well as conducting administrative and research activities at IBR/DD, he served for several years on the board of directors for the National Down Syndrome Congress. He was the author of numerous journal articles and book chapters and was the co-editor of a seminal text “Aging, Dementia, and Intellectual Disabilities: A Handbook." In his most recent activity, he served as the principal investigator (along with Drs. Paul Aisen and Mary Sano) of “Vitamin E in Aging Persons with Down Syndrome”, a National Institutes of Health-funded multi-year international, multicenter, randomized, double-blind, and placebo controlled clinical trial designed to determine whether the administration of vitamin E would slow the rate of cognitive and functional decline in older adults with Down syndrome.
Since the mid-1990s, he directed the Center for Aging Studies at the New York State Institute for Basic Research in Developmental Disabilities (IBR/DD), which is affiliated with the New York State Office for People with Developmental Disabilities. The Center was charged with the development, conduct, analysis, and reporting of multidisciplinary research into age-associated conditions affecting older individuals with intellectual and/or developmental disabilities. Among its activities, the Center was involved in the development of tests of cognitive abilities to evaluate changes associated with the onset of dementia, collaborated with universities with respect to evaluating residential settings for persons with dementia and developmental disabilities, assessed the nature of dementia care procedures, and conducted surveys of the prevalence of dementia diagnoses in New York State facilities that provided services for older adults with developmental disabilities.
Dr. Dalton was married to Alexandria Kopinets and lived in Mahopac, New York. He had many hobbies, but his love for astronomy was most prominent. He enjoyed travel and had many colleagues across the world. He was an accomplished researcher, author, and educator – and most significantly a strong advocate for people with Down syndrome.