Mind Matters: A Podcast Produced by the University of Kentucky Sanders-Brown Center on Aging

Derrick Hord is the Community Outreach and Engagement Director at the UK Sanders-Brown Center on Aging. He joins the podcast to share about the Markesbery Symposium Community Session, named in honor and memory of the late William R. Markesbery, MD, founding director of the Sanders-Brown Center on Aging and Alzheimer’s Disease Research Center at the University of Kentucky.   Dr. Markesbery’s legacy of groundbreaking research at the Center on Aging has formed the bedrock for our quest to understand and treat Alzheimer’s disease and to improve the quality of life of the elderly. Derrick shares about the importance of research and how to attend the 2024 Markesbery Symposium Community Session! In-person registration has reached capacity, but virtual attendance is still an option. To register to attend the Markesbery Symposium Community Session, please visit https:// tinyurl.com/2024- register-Markesbery or call 859-323-5550.  For more details about the Symposium, and those from years past, visit https://medicine.uky.edu/centers/sbcoa/markesbery-symposium. For more information about the UK Sanders-Brown Center on Aging, visit us as https://medicine.uky.edu/centers/sbcoa.   To participate in research at the Sanders-Brown Center on Aging, visit https://medicine.uky.edu/centers/sbcoa/clinical-trials.   If you are a caregiver and need support, please visit https://medicine.uky.edu/centers/sbcoa/how-can-we-help. Follow us on Facebook, X, or our Sanders-Brown YouTube channel.

Courtney Kloske, PhD, a graduate of the UK Department of Physiology in the College of Medicine and T32 recipient at Sanders-Brown joins Mind Matters to highlight research shared at the Alzheimer’s Association International Conference.  Currently, Courtney serves as the Director of Scientific Engagement with the Alzheimer’s Association. For more information about the UK Sanders-Brown Center on Aging, visit https://medicine.uky.edu/centers/sbcoa.   For more information about the T32 training program, visit https://medicine.uky.edu/centers/sbcoa/triad.   To participate in research at the Sanders-Brown Center on Aging, visit https://medicine.uky.edu/centers/sbcoa/clinical-trials.   To join the UK Sanders-Brown Center on Aging Walk to End Alzheimer’s team, visit http://act.alz.org/goto/UKSBCoA.   For more details about the Alzheimer’s Association International Conference, visit https://aaic.alz.org/.  

Meet Dr. Lauren Bojarski, the newest fellow at the Sanders-Brown Center on Aging! She brings her enthusiasm and love for people to this role and is going to be a great asset to the team! For more information about the UK Sanders-Brown Center on Aging, visit us as https://medicine.uky.edu/centers/sbcoa or call 859-323-5550. Follow Dr. Bojarski on X at @BojarskiLauren

Recent findings are showing that old dogs may actually be teaching us new things! Dr. Christopher Norris and Dr. Elizabeth Head join the podcast to share their new findings from their NIH funded study that was recently published in the Journal of Neuroscience! Dr. Christopher Norris is a professor in the Department of Pharmacology & Nutritional Sciences and also serves as the Associate Director at the Sanders-Brown Center on Aging and is a Co-Director of the Sanders-Brown Intravital Imaging Facility. Dr. Elizabeth Head is a professor, and Vice Chair for Research in the Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine at the University of California-Irvine.  She is the Director of the Experimental Pathology Program and has over 266 publications since 1996. For more information about Dr. Norris and his lab, visit https://norris.createuky.net/. For more information about Dr. Head and her lab at UC Irvine, visit https://sites.mind.uci.edu/headlab/. To read more about their study, visit https://www.jneurosci.org/content/44/20/e2366232024. To see their imaging on the cover of the Journal of Neuroscience, visit https://www.jneurosci.org/content/44/20.cover-expansion. For more information about the UK Sanders-Brown Center on Aging, visit us as https://medicine.uky.edu/centers/sbcoa.

Dr. Mark Ebbert, Dr. Ja Brandon, & Bernardo Aguzzoli Heberle join the podcast to discuss their latest work published in Nature Biotechnology. For more information about the Ebbert Lab, visit https://ebbertlab.com/.  To read about their latest study in Nature Biotechnology, visit For more information about the UK Sanders-Brown Center on Aging, visit ⁠https://medicine.uky.edu/centers/sbcoa⁠. To financially support the work of Sanders-Brown, call Beth Wells at  859-319-6886. To discover more about research studies and clinical trials, call 859-323-5550 or visit the clinical trials page at https://medicine.uky.edu/centers/sbcoa/clinical-trials.

Kim Dacey & Barbara Martin join the Mind Matters podcast to share details of the Mind Matters Health Fair, an annual community event in Lexington, Kentucky, where healthy brain aging information is shared in fun, interactive ways. To register for the health fair visit http://bit.ly/SBCoA2024HealthFair or call 859-323-5550. For more information about the UK Sanders-Brown Center on Aging, visit us at https://medicine.uky.edu/centers/sbcoa.

The month of April is Occupational Therapy Month! Dr. Elizabeth Rhodus joins the Mind Matters podcast to talk about occupational therapy, how to access OT services, and about the Engaged Aging Lab. Dr. Elizabeth Rhodus is a professor in the Department of Behavioral Sciences at UK. She is primary faculty for the Center for Health Equity Transformation. She also leads the Engaged Aging Lab and serves on the Outreach, Recruitment, and Engagement Core at the UK Sanders-Brown Center on Aging.  For more information about the Engaged Aging Lab, visit https://engagedaging.createuky.net/ To learn more about the Harmony at H.O.M.E. (Help Online Modifying the Environment) telehealth program, visit bit.ly/3NDMUrd. For more information about the UK Sanders-Brown Center on Aging, visit us at https://medicine.uky.edu/centers/sbcoa.

Dr. Erin Abner, a professor in the Department of Epidemiology with joint appointments in the Sanders-Brown Center on Aging and the Department of Biostatistics, joins the Mind Matters podcast to share about National Public Health Week, April 1-7.    For more information about Dr. Erin Abner, visit https://cph.uky.edu/directory/erin-abner. For details about the UK College of Public Health’s weeklong celebratory activities, visit https://cph.uky.edu/events/national-public-health-week-2024.  For more information about the UK Sanders-Brown Center on Aging, visit https://medicine.uky.edu/centers/sbcoa.

March 21st is World Down Syndrome Day (WDSD), a global awareness day for Down Syndrome. Sanders-Brown researchers share about WDSD, the talents of some of the research participants, and ways you can celebrate WDSD. For more information about Down Syndrome research, visit https://www.alzheimers.gov/clinical-trials/alzheimers-biomarkers-consortium-down-syndrome and https://dsctn.org/life-dsr/. To find out more about how to participate in a study, e-mail Roberta Davis at [email protected].  For more information about the UK Sanders-Brown Center on Aging, visit us at ⁠https://medicine.uky.edu/centers/sbcoa⁠. To celebrate WDSD, proudly share pictures of your mismatched or brightly colored socks on social media by tagging #LotsOfSocks or #WorldDownSyndromeDay.

In honor of Traumatic Brain Injury Month, Dr. Adam Bachstetter, PhD joins the podcast to discuss his expertise.  Will a traumatic brain injury lead to Alzheimer’s disease? How does the brain protect itself from further damage? Dr. Bachstetter  is an Associate Professor of Neuroscience at the University of Kentucky. His primary affiliation is with the Spinal Cord & Brain Injury Research Center (SCoBIRC). He is also affiliated with the UK SBCoA.  His work focuses on  therapeutic approaches to target neuroinflammation following traumatic brain injury and in Alzheimer’s disease and related dementias. He also focuses on the cellular processes involved in microglia and astrocyte degeneration in neurodegenerative disease. For more information about Dr. Bachstetter and his work, visit http://bachstetterlab.org. For more information about the UK Sanders-Brown Center on Aging, visit us at https://medicine.uky.edu/centers/sbcoa.

Dr. Shannon Macauley joins the podcast in honor of International Day of Women and Girls in Science. She is an Associate Professor in the Department of Physiology at the University of Kentucky and recently joined the Sanders-Brown Center on Aging as an affiliate faculty member. For more information about Dr. Macauley and her work, visit https://www.macauleylab.com/. Follow her on X at @macauleylab.  For more information about the UK Sanders-Brown Center on Aging, visit us at ⁠https://medicine.uky.edu/centers/sbcoa.

Dr. Alaine Reschke-Hernandez joins the podcast to discuss her passion of music therapy and its effect on those with dementia. She is an assistant professor of music therapy at the UK College of Fine Arts and recently joined the Sanders-Brown Center on Aging as an affiliate faculty member.   For more information about Dr. Reschke-Hernandez and her work, visit https://imagnlab.createuky.net/⁠. For more information about the UK Sanders-Brown Center on Aging, visit us at ⁠https://medicine.uky.edu/centers/sbcoa.

Dr. Brian Gold, PhD joins the podcast to discuss cognitive reserve and lifestyle factors as they pertain to neurodegenerative disease. Dr. Gold is the director of the Cognitive Neuroscience of Aging lab and a Professor in the Departments of Neuroscience and Radiology. He is also a Co-Director of UK's MRI Center, and a Co-Director of the Biomarker Core at the UK Sanders-Brown Center on Aging’s Alzheimer's Disease Research Center. For more information about Dr. Gold and his lab, visit https://sites.google.com/view/gold-cognitive-aging/home For more information about the UK Sanders-Brown Center on Aging, visit us at https://medicine.uky.edu/centers/sbcoa.

In honor of National Family Caregiver Month and to honor the 157,000 unpaid Kentucky caregivers, Sarah Hatch joins the podcast. We talk about the needs of caregivers and how the Sanders-Brown Center on Aging can help! Resources to Assist: https://medicine.uky.edu/centers/sbcoa/how-can-we-help https://dementiacaregiver.createuky.net/ Sanders-Brown Center on Aging 859-323-5550.

The Memory Cafe is 12 years old and we are celebrating! The UK Sanders-Brown Center on Aging partners with the Alzheimer's Association each month to provide this social engagment program, where individuals with memory loss AND their loved ones gather for a time of togetherness, connection, and FUN! Special guests for this podcast include Sarah Hatch, MSW, CSW of SBCoA, Meredith Plant of the Alzheimer's Association, Ted & Gail Fraebel who are living with memory loss, and their care partner, Wendy Trivisonno. To register or learn more about the Memory Cafe in Lexington, Kentucky, please call Sarah at 859-323-5550 or Meredith at 800-272-3900. For help with organizing a Memory Cafe in your area, contact the Alzheimer's Association at 800-272-3900.

October is Down Syndrome Month. People with Down Syndrome are living longer. The age at which they develop Alzheimer's disease is much younger than the general population. In this episode, we talk with researchers at the University of Kentucky Sanders-Brown Center on Aging about their work with people with Down Syndrome and the hope this work brings! Special guests include Fred Schmitt, PhD, Jordan Harp, PhD, Amanda Glueck, PhD, Raven McCree, and Roberta Davis. To find out more: Alzheimer's Biomarker Consortium- Down Syndrome ⁠https://abc-ds.org/⁠   Fall 2021 Mind Matters Magazine link-  Probing the Connections Between Alzheimer’s Disease and Down Syndrome, Page 14 ⁠https://medicine.uky.edu/centers/sbcoa/mind-matters-magazine⁠   For questions about Down Syndrome research or the Sanders-Brown Center on Aging, reach out to Roberta Davis at 859-218-3865.

In this episode, Dr. Lance Johnson of the University of Kentucky Sanders-Brown Center on Aging shares about his research on genetic risk factors for Alzheimer's disease, and how modifying genetics may play an important role in risk reduction. For more information about the work Lance Johnson and his team are doing, visit http://www.ljohnsonlab.com/. To find out how you can get involved in research at the Sanders-Brown Center on Aging, visit us at https://medicine.uky.edu/centers/sbcoa/clinical-trials.