ADRC News

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video still of Dr. Nathaniel Chin

With the holiday season upon us, it is important to keep in mind the risks of COVID-19 and the threat it has on our elderly population. To put in perspective the amount of risk it has on elderly people, a Wisconsin statistic estimates that about 77% of all those who have died from the virus are over the age of 70. With this in mind, Dr. Nathaniel Chin, UW Health geriatrician and Wisconsin ADRC investigator...

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elderly woman at dinner table eating with others

Investigator Nicole Rogus-Pulia, PhD, CCC-SLP, speech-language pathologist and an assistant professor of medicine at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, specializes in a subset of swallowing disorders known as dysphagia. Additionally, her work focuses on how dementia and related cognitive decline comes hand-in-hand with symptoms of dysphagia. She suggests that cognitive impairments and attention deficits can negatively impact swallow functioning.

Rogus-Pulia was recently featured in two articles by Being Patient, an online source for Alzheimer's disease and brain...

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colorful 3-d image of the brain

An emerging field in Alzheimer's disease research is focused on the role of location in disease risk. Using government and medical data, researchers are looking for patterns that may affect risk in counties and neighborhoods with increased and reduced rates of Alzheimer's disease. This line of work looks at Alzheimer's disease beyond the context of biological roots and looks for answers about the disease related to social determinants of health. 

The article references a recent study from Amy...

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woman talking to person in a car at a drive-through resource fair

Penn Park on Madison’s South Side was abuzz on Saturday, November 14, with a socially distanced drive-through resource fair focused on healthy aging and winter safety. Nearly 200 people attended “Keeping Families & Elders Safe this Winter.” Event staff reported serving visitors who arrived via various transportation methods, including 80 cars, one motor scooter, and three walk-ups.

Attendees received information about healthy aging, eating well, and participating in Alzheimer’s disease research. Additional resources included free...

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header for Aging Well Summit: Healthy Brains, Healthy Caregiving

Cairasu Alzheimer’s and Dementia Center Inc. will host the Aging Well Summit: Healthy Brains, Healthy Caregivers November 21-22, 2020. The free, online, two-day event is designed to support caregivers with brain health information and caregiver education and resources. Several Alzheimer's disease and caregiver experts from UW-Madison are scheduled to present at the event.

The event will take place November 21, 10 a.m. - 1:15 p.m. and November 22, 11 a.m. - 2:50 p.m.

Find event details and registration information online...

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barbara bendlin phd

Barbara Bendlin, PhD, joined "Being Patient," an online news source for Alzheimer's disease and brain health research, for a video interview with host Deborah Kan. In the interview, Bendlin discussed how gut microbes can play a critical role in our overall health and the links between microbiome and neurodegeneration. As an Alzheimer’s disease researcher, Bendlin’s focus is on analyzing brain health trajectories through exercise, diet and gut microbiome and other modifiable risk factors.

Bendlin offered information...

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dr manish shah

The University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health is one of four sites awarded a total of $7.5 million from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) to conduct research that could lead to improved care in emergency departments for people with dementia.

The effort aims to leverage expertise in emergency medicine, geriatrics and Alzheimer’s disease and related dementias to identify gaps in emergency care for people with dementia and address those gaps, according...

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Wisconsin Alzheimer's Disease Research Center - University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health

The Wisconsin Alzheimer’s Disease Research Center is seeking applicants for the 2021 class of its Research Education Component (REC) Scholar Program, a two-year training and mentorship program that aims to develop researcher skills and competency in Alzheimer’s disease and related dementias. Applications are due November 10, 2020, at 11:59 p.m. central time. Application details and directions can be found on the REC Scholars Program webpage or in this PDF about the program...

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man on a treadmill during an exercise-related research study

For the weekly Brain’s Resilience And Intelligence Networks (BRAIN) international lecture series, Ozioma Okonkwo, PhD, shared an overview of his research into physical fitness, exercise, and Alzheimer’s disease progression. 

The lecture series emphasizes research in cognitive resilience and neuroimaging and seeks to illuminate the structural and functional networks that form the basis of resilience, which Okonkwo defined as the brain’s capacity for maintaining normal functioning despite the presence of pathology. In his talk “Resilience through the Fitness...

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screen shot of five speakers from an online presentation

The University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health (UWSMPH) held an online discussion Tuesday, September 15 about the current Alzheimer's disease research taking place at UW–Madison and clinical breakthroughs. The "Wisconsin Medicine Livestream: Ending Alzheimer’s" presentation was moderated by Robert N. Golden, MD, Dean of Students at UWSMPH and streamed live on YouTube.

Dean Golden hosted the livestream and started the presentation by sharing facts about Alzheimer’s disease. He said one statistic...