On Friday, September 9th, 2022, UCI MIND, Alzheimer’s Orange County, and the Alzheimer’s Association Orange County Chapter hosted the 33rd Annual Southern California Alzheimer’s Disease Research Conference at the Irvine Marriott.
This year’s conference titled, “Dementia Across the Lifespan”, was the first one held in person in 3 years and was simultaneously live streamed to a virtual audience. The theme of the conference addressed different forms of dementia, contextualized by their typical age of onset. As with previous years, the line-up of speakers was outstanding.
The day kicked off with a presentation from esteemed UC Irvine Professor of Pathology and UCI MIND faculty member, Dr. Elizabeth Head, who shared the importance of studying Alzheimer’s disease in people with Down syndrome.
Dr. Jessica Langbaum, Co-Director of the Alzheimer’s Prevention Initiative at Banner Alzheimer’s Institute presented results from the groundbreaking clinical trial in people with or at risk for a rare genetic form of Alzheimer’s disease.
Dr. Katherine Possin, Associate Professor of Neurology at UCSF and Dr. Lee Jennings, Associate Professor of Medicine from the University of Oklahoma presented data from two novel dementia care programs at UCSF and UCLA, respectively.
Dr. Peter Ljubenkov, an Assistant Professor of Neurology from UCSF, spoke on a set of neurodegenerative diseases collectively called frontotemporal dementia.
After a break for lunch, Dr. Ahmad Sajjadi, UCI MIND faculty member and Associate Professor of Neurology and Pathology at UC Irvine, spoke on a newly described from of dementia an older age of onset called limbic-predominant age related TDP-43 encephalopathy (LATE), and Dr. Prashanthi Vemuri, Professor of Radiology from the Mayo Clinic, discussed how lifestyle factors may influence the unique constructs of resistance and resilience.
The day culminated with a moving Caregiver Panel, featuring caregivers and family member representatives for the differing conditions discuss through the day. Thirty-one sponsoring organizations who supported the conference were in attendance and approximately 350 people attended virtually or in-person.
Learn more at conference.mind.uci.edu
Scroll through some photos captured by Steve Sholik:
Jessica Langbaum, PhD, discussing rare genetic forms of Alzheimer’s disease
Elizabeth Head, PhD, speaking on Alzheimer’s disease in people with Down syndrome
Joshua Grill, PhD (left), moderates an audience Q&A with Lee Jennings, MD (middle), and Katherine Possin, PhD (right)
The audience applauds a speaker at the 33rd Annual SoCal Alzheimer’s Disease Research Conference
Joshua Grill, PhD (left) listens as Ahmad Sajjadi, MD, PhD (right) answers questions from the audience.
The caregiver panel, including speakers Rosemary Navarro (left), Karen Loeb (left-middle), Kathy Oberst (right-middle) and Dee Ransom (right) answer questions from the audience about their experience caring for loved-ones with dementia.
Peter Ljbenkov, MD presents on the latest advancements in treatments for frontotemporal dementia
An audience member asking a question
