More than 450 scientists, researchers and laypeople converged on Lexington last week for the fourth annual Markesbery Symposium on Aging and Dementia, hosted by the University of Kentucky's Sanders-Brown Center on Aging.
The two-day program offered sessions for both scientific and community audiences to share current findings, trends and the latest updates on dementia and aging disorders, particularly Alzheimer's disease.
The scientific session and poster presentations were held on Friday, Nov. 21, at the UK Albert B. Chandler Hospital. This session featured speakers William E.
Four students seeking their master's degrees and five students doctoral programs competed last week in an event designed to prepare them for presenting research.
The "Three Minute Thesis" event, hosted by the UK Graduate School and the Graduate Student Congress, is a research communication initiative requiring graduate students to speak succinctly and engagingly about their current research to a nonspecialist audience.
It provides students with the opportunity to practice presenting their work, and to receive feedback from a panel of judges.
During a woman's menstrual cycle, ovulation is the critical mid-point when an egg is released and fertilization can occur. Women's health providers have long understood that a woman's best chances of becoming pregnant are around the time of ovulation. But researchers are still learning about the physiological triggers that initiate this natural process in humans and other mammals.
Mary Vore was recently awarded the 2014 William R. Willard Award. This award is the College’s highest honor given to individuals who have made singular contributions to the College’s missions in research, teaching and service.
Educated at Asbury College, Mary obtained her Ph.D. in pharmacology at Vanderbilt University. She returned to Kentucky as an Assistant Professor in the Department of Pharmacology and rose through the ranks to Professor in 1986.
The University of Kentucky Board of Trustees Saturday adopted a sweeping statement of principles, directing President Eli Capilouto to focus on the "most pressing" needs of Kentucky by determining how best to grow UK's research enterprise through strategic investments in facilities and talent.
"The challenges are overwhelming, but we can be up to the task of making a difference," Capilouto said. "These are not easy issues, but they must be our issues.
The Alzheimer’s Association has awarded a $100,000 New Investigator Research Grant to Jose Abisambra, assistant professor at the University of Kentucky's Sanders-Brown Center on Aging (SBCoA), to study a brain protein that becomes abnormally modified in the course of developing Alzheimer's disease.
The New Investigator Research Grant program is part of the Alzheimer’s Association’s effort to increase the number of scientists conducting Alzheimer’s research by supporting early-career development that will lay the groundwork for future research grants.
In her research, Sarah D'Orazio, associate professor in the University of Kentucky Department of Microbiology, Immunology and Molecular Genetics, investigates why some people get sicker than others after ingesting the foodborne bacterial pathogen Listeria monocytogenes.
The Sanders-Brown Center on Aging at the University of Kentucky will hold its fourth annual Markesbery Symposium on Aging and Dementia on Friday and Saturday, Nov. 21-22.
The Markesbery Symposium is named in honor of the late Dr. William R. Markesbery, founder and long-time director of the UK Sanders-Brown Center on Aging and an internationally renowned expert on aging and dementia.
More than 5 million Americans have Alzheimer's disease (AD) today and millions more are affected by their role as family member, friend or caregiver to those with memory loss.
A new study by University of Kentucky researchers has identified a novel molecule named Arylquin 1 as a potent inducer of Par-4 secretion from normal cells. Par-4 is a protein that acts as a tumor suppressor, killing cancer cells while leaving normal cells unharmed.
Normal cells secrete small amounts of Par-4 on their own, but this amount is not enough to kill cancer cells.
Did you know that you can help others by participating in research? Health-focused research affects every aspect of our lives, from the medications we take to the health of our environment. Researchers are working hard to identify new treatments and strategies to improve the health of our communities, but research needs healthy volunteers and volunteers with medical conditions in order to succeed.
A team of investigators has made a thought-provoking discovery about a type of cholesterol previously believed to be a "bad guy" in the development of heart disease and other conditions.
Jason Meyer, a University of Kentucky M.D.-Ph.D.
The University of Kentucky's Center of Biomedical Research Excellence (COBRE) on the Molecular Basis of Human Disease was recently awarded a third phase of National Institutes of Health (NIH) funding for a program to develop its research community and center dedicated to human disease.
With this new $1.25 million annual grant, UK's COBRE will build upon achievements of a research development program that initially received NIH support in 2004.
Studies show that adults who received corrective surgery for the most common serious form of congenital heart disease as infants are susceptible to heart failure in adulthood.
Researchers at the University of Kentucky are using magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) technology to better understand the cause of heart failure in these patients, with the goal of eventually developing new therapies to reduce mortality. The team, led by University of Kentucky professor Dr.
From the New York Times to visits from the director of the Centers of Disease Control and Prevention, health disparities in Appalachia are receiving a lot of attention, and for good reason. The list is sadly familiar: life expectancy in the region is about five years lower than national averages; rates of cancer, cardiovascular disease, stroke, obesity, diabetes, and unintentional injury are among the very worst in the country; and myriad socioeconomic and geographic barriers limit access to health insurance and care. Former University of Kentucky President Lee Todd Jr.
Prabhakara R Nagareddy, a scientist with the Saha Cardiovascular Research Institute at the University of Kentucky, has received a prestigious K99/R00 award from the National Institutes of Health.
Also known as the Pathway to Independence (PI) Award, this grant provides two years of mentored postdoctoral support followed by three years of independent support.
University of Kentucky Endowed Chair of Neuroscience Dr. Diane Snow was recently elected by her colleagues to serve as president-elect of the National Neurotrauma Society (NNS). With this appointment, Snow will hold the position of president in 2015-2016.
Since joining the NNS in 2003, Snow has championed women's contributions to neurotrauma research and mentorship opportunities for young members of the profession, including students, postdoctoral fellows and young professors.
The Bright Focus Foundation has announced that three different researchers from the Sanders-Brown Center on Aging at the University of Kentucky have received Bright Focus grants for 2014.
Professor Steve Estus and associate professors Harry LeVine and Paul Murphy were each recognized for their work on Alzheimer's disease.
"Only 25 Bright Focus grants are awarded worldwide each year, so it's an achievement to get one. But three Bright Focus grants in a single year is truly exceptional," said Dr. Michael Karpf, UK HealthCare's executive vice president of health affairs.
Researchers from the Sanders-Brown Center on Aging at the University of Kentucky have been able to confirm anecdotal information on patients with both Alzheimer's disease (AD) and cerebrovascular disease (CVD) using mouse models in two different studies.
The findings of these two studies, which were recently published in Acta Neuropathologica and Alzheimer's Research & Therapy, have potentially significant implications for patients with both disorders.
Both papers studied CVD in Alzheimer's disease mouse models using different lifestyle factors.
Scientists at the University of Kentucky, led by nano-biotechnologist Peixuan Guo, have made some critical discoveries over the past year into the operation of biomotors, the molecular machines used by viruses and bacteria in the packaging of DNA.
Biomotors function similarly to mechanical motors but on a nano-scale. Last year, Guo's team reported the discovery of a new, third class of biomotor, unique in that it uses a "revolution without rotation" mechanism. Rotation is the turning of an object around its own axle, as the Earth does every 24 hours.
