Innovations in Healthy Aging 2023 Summit

Continental Breakfast

Summit Welcome and Introduction

Tara Sklar, Faculty Director, Health Law & Policy, Arizona Law, University of Arizona and Senior Advisor for Innovations in Healthy Aging

Opening Remarks

Kathleen Insel, Professor and Interim Dean, College of Nursing and Director, Innovations in Healthy Aging, University of Arizona

Leveraging Resources and Networks to Support Healthy Aging Research

Lindsay A. Goldman, LMSW, Chief Executive Officer, Grantmakers In Aging

Jennie Gubner, PhD, Assistant Professor, Fred Fox School of Music, College of Fine Arts, University of Arizona

Tyler Meier, MFA, Executive Director, University of Arizona Poetry Center

Studies have shown that participating in the arts can have a positive impact on quality of life and overall well-being for older individuals. The benefits of creative practices include enhanced cognitive abilities, improved memory, increased self-esteem, reduced stress, and increased social interactions. Speakers discuss how engaging in creative activities can lead to a healthier aging experience.

Moderator

Tyler Meier, MFA, Executive Director, University of Arizona Poetry Center

Project 1: Virtual Experiences to Reduce Loneliness and Psychosocial Distress Among Older Black Church Members

Kelly Palmer, PhD, Assistant Professor, Department of Health Promotion Sciences, College of Public Health; and Associate Director, UAHS Health Disparities Research Center, University of Arizona

Description

Social isolation and loneliness are major public health concerns that have been further exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic in recent years. Project 1 seeks to address these concerns through the development and implementation of culturally responsive, spirituality/religiosity-based virtual experiences to increase social connectedness and physical activity, while reducing loneliness, social isolation and psychosocial distress among older black church members.

Project 2: Exploring and Identifying Communities Where I Belong: Arts-Based, Person-Centered Book Making Workshop

Yumi Shirai, PhD, Assistant Professor, Department of Family and Community Medicine, College of Medicine, University of Arizona

Description

As the life expectancy for people with Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities (IDD) continues to increase, their support and health advocacy needs often become more complex. At the same time, they are outliving their lifelong family caregivers who often hold key personal information. Project 2 provides a novel solution to the needs of aging adults with IDD, creating a key document to provide caregivers with the information needed to ensure that not only their healthcare needs are met but also to reflect their important personal and cultural connections that are a critical part of their community living.

Moderator

Nancy Pollock-Ellwand, PhD, FCSLA, Dean, College of Architecture, Planning & Landscape Architecture and Professor, Landscape Architecture, University of Arizona

Project 1: Personal Thermal Comfort Management and Minimized Building Energy Consumption via Ambient Light Exposure for Optimal Thermal Comfort in Older Adults

J. Ray Runyon, Ph.D., Assistant Research Professor, Department of Environmental Sciences, College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, University of Arizona

Description

Thermal comfort within buildings can significantly affect health, including physiological stress levels, sleep quality and productivity, when outside the comfort range. Impacts on sleep quality and stress are known to in turn impact cognitive performance, an important impact in older adults. Project 1 examines the impact of ambient lighting on perceived thermal comfort in older adults and its effects on building energy consumption.

Project 2: The Virtual Supermarket: A New Environment for Studying Spatial Behavior in Healthy Aging and Disease

Paul Hill, Ph.D., Research Scientist, Department of Psychology, College of Science, University of Arizona

Description

In healthy, cognitively unimpaired individuals, spatial navigation challenges can foreshadow the onset of Alzheimer’s disease (AD) years before clinical symptoms emerge. Recent progress in immersive VR technology presents a unique opportunity to examine the impact of cognitive aging on spatial behavior in freely moving humans in a “supermarket” that they have never visited before. Project 2 examines the nature of spatial deficits in older adults and those at risk for AD. By combining state-of-the-art VR with integrated eye tracking, body-tracking, and haptic technology, the virtual supermarket will provide unprecedented insights into the impact of age on spatial behavior.

Rick G. Schnellmann, PhD, Dean Endowed Chair, R. Ken Coit College of Pharmacy; Professor, Pharmacology and Toxicology, University of Arizona

Moderator

Carol Barnes, PhD, Professor, Psychology and Director, Evelyn F McKnight Brain Institute, University of Arizona

Project 1: Tumor-Specific T-cell Responses in Skin Cancer with Aging

Janko Nikolich, MD, PhD, Professor and Department Head, Department of Immunobiology, College of Medicine and Co-Director, Arizona Center on Aging, University of Arizona

Description

The ability to generate effective immune responses declines with age. Cutaneous squamous cell carcinoma (cSCC) is a common cancer with the potential for serious illness and death, and the risk of developing cSCC increases with age. Project 1 seeks to examine the defects in antitumor immunity with age using a new mouse cancer model to detect T cells that recognize and control mouse cSCC tumors.

Project 2: Treatment of Language in Alzheimer’s Disease (AD) Combining Behavioral Therapy with Noninvasive Neuromodulation Informed by Measures of Neural Responsiveness

Aneta Kielar, PhD, Assistant Professor, Department of Speech, Language and Hearing Sciences, College of Science, University of Arizona

Description

A lesser-known subvariant of Alzheimer’s disease (AD) causes a type of language decline known as logopenic variant primary progressive aphasia (lvPPA). In contrast to typical AD, promising existing research demonstrates that behavioral intervention can improve or slow the loss of language abilities in lvPPA. Project 2 seeks to advance this line of research by pairing evidence-based language treatment with the neuromodulation effects of noninvasive transcranial direct current stimulation and structural and functional MRI to target specific regions of the brain.

From Vision to Reality: Collaborating for Breakthroughs in Research

Esther Sternberg, MD, Professor, Medicine; Inaugural Andrew Weil Chair for Research in Integrative Medicine and Associate Director for Biomedical and Environmental Research, Innovations in Healthy Aging

Mindy Fain, MD, Professor, Medicine and Nursing; Co-Director, Arizona Center on Aging and Associate Director for Education, Care and Community Research, Innovations in Healthy Aging