UC Davis Alzheimer's Disease Center hosts 7th annual research symposium Nov. 8

Charles DeCarli

The UC Davis Alzheimer’s Disease Center will host its 7th Annual Alzheimer’s Research Symposium on Thursday, Nov. 8 from 10 a.m. – 3 p.m. at the UC Davis Conference Center, 550 Alumni Lane in Davis. This year’s theme is “From Clinic to Community Prevention and Treatment of Alzheimer’s Disease.”

Lisa Barnes from Rush Alzheimer’s Disease Center will deliver the keynote presentation titled “Cognitive aging in older African Americans and Whites: Lessons Learned from Rush cohort studies.” Barnes will present data from longitudinal cohort studies at Rush of older African Americans and whites to illustrate how risk factors and protective markers may impact cognitive aging and risk for developing Alzheimer’s disease. She will also discuss racial differences in underlying brain pathologies measured at death and their association with cognition.

Additional speakers and presentations include:

• Charles DeCarli, director, UC Davis Alzheimer’s Disease Center
  UC Davis Alzheimer’s Disease Center overview and funding opportunities for Alzheimer’s disease
• Silva Hilt, postdoctoral fellow, Department of Neurology, UC Davis
  “Novel compounds in reducing oxidative stress and amyloid load in cell culture and in vivo”
• Zachariah Reagh, postdoctoral fellow, Department of Neurology, UC Davis
  “Age-related changes in neural event processing and segmentation”
• Martha Forloines, postdoctoral fellow, Department of Neurology, UC Davis
  “Variations in the flexible use of environment-specific representations in aging”
• Rachel Whitmer, professor and chief, Division of Epidemiology, Department of Public Health Sciences, UC Davis
  “Brain Health: Looking Back to Move Forward”
• Joel Kramer, professor of Neuropsychology in Neurology and director of the Memory and Aging Center Neuropsychology program, UC San Francisco
  “Vascular Contributions to Brain Aging”
• Brittany Duggar, assistant professor, Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medecine, UC Davis
  “Alzheimer’s Disease Biospecimen Resources”
• Prasant Jena, postdoctoral scholar, Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, UC Davis
  “Dietary-modulated Bile Acid Signaling in Regulating Cognitive Health and Dysfunction”
• Kelley Patten, graduate student researcher, UC Davis School of Veterinary Medicine
  “Does Traffic-Related Air Pollution Increase the Risk of Alzheimer’s Disease in a Genetically Susceptible Rat Model?”

The UC Davis Alzheimer's Disease Center is one of only 27 research centers designated by the National Institutes of Health's National Institute on Aging. The center's goal is to translate research advances into improved diagnosis and treatment for patients while focusing on the long-term goal of finding a way to prevent or cure Alzheimer's disease. Also funded by the state of California, the center allows researchers to study the effects of the disease on a uniquely diverse population. For more information, visit alzheimer.ucdavis.edu.