Alzheimer’s in Alabama Annual Conference
Tuesday October 17, 2017
ACA’s Annual Conference for Caregivers
8:30 to 4:30
Canterbury United Methodist Church
350 Overbrook Road
Mountain Brook
Download the PowerPoint Presentations
- Minds: Understanding Dementia Based on Neuroscience
- Alzheimer’s Research Report: The Latest from UAB on Treatment, Care and Cure
- Finding New Causes and Markers of Alzheimer’s with Genomics
- Preventing and Treating Cognitive Decline: A Different Approach
7:30 | Registration |
8:30 | From Molecules to Minds: Understanding Dementia Based on Neuroscience. Richard Powers, MD, Adjunct Professor in Neurology and Pathology, UAB School of Medicine |
9:45 | Break featuring: A Moment of Movement with Jackie Talley |
10:00 | Alzheimer’s Research Report: The Latest from UAB on Treatment, Care and Cure
Moderator and Presenter: Olivio J. Clay, PhD, Associate Professor of Psychology, UAB Jeremy H. Herskowitz, PhD, Assistant Professor of Neurology and Neurobiology, Patsy W. and Charles A. Collat Scholar in Neuroscience, Center for Neurodegeneration and Experimental Therapeutics, UAB |
11:30 | Virtual Dementia Tour in a Box: an Immersion Experience |
11:45 | Lunch featuring: Finding New Causes and Markers of Alzheimer’s with Genomics Nicholas Cochran, PhD Postdoctoral Fellow, HudsonAlpha |
12:45 | Break featuring The Episcopal Place Dancers Under the direction of Melissa Turnage, Arts in Medicine Artist in Residence, UAB Hospital |
1:00 | Corralling Negativity: Keys to Gaining Insight and Empathy Don Wendorf, Psy.D. and Lynda Everman |
1:30 | Crisis Points in Managing Dementia Care Moderated by Christy Baynes, MSHA, MBA, CMC, President and Lead Geriatric Care Manager, LifeCare for Seniors, LLCPanel Nicole Crawford, Assistant Administrator/Unit Coordinator-Evergreen Memory Care, St. Martin’s in the in the Pines Assisted Living Lemeshia Agee Chambers, MSW, Community Relations Coordinator, Brookwood Baptist Health, Princeton Baptist Medical Center-Senior Care Sherri Friday, Jefferson County Probate Judge Stephanie Sansing, Community Educator, Affinity Hospice |
2:45 | Preventing and Treating Cognitive Decline: A Different Approach Kristine Lokken, PhD, Neuropsychologist |
3:30 | Break |
3:45 | ACA: Giving Support, Research and Hope followed by ACA’s Candle Lighting Service |
4:30 | Adjourn |
Breakfast sponsored by Brookdale University Park
Lunch sponsored by Bradford and Holliman
Vendor Sponsors
- Choice Home Care
- Home Instead Senior Care
- St. Martin’s
- South Highland Center
- Alabama Family Trust
- Regency Retirement Village
- Galleria Woods
- Family Private Care
- Senior Care Program Brookwood
- Kirkwood by the River
Home Instead Senior Care is an approved provider of continuing education programs of the Alabama Board of Nursing, ABNP 1441 Exp. 9/3/18 and of the Alabama Board of Social Work Examiners, 0431, Exp. 9/30/18. This program will offer 7.5 nursing credits and 6.25 social worker credits. 6.5 hours for assisted living administrators; 6.0 hours may be applied toward the Category II requirement for cognitive impairment education. 6.0 hours for nursing home administrators
Speaker Bios:
From Molecules to Minds: Understanding Dementia Based on Neuroscience
Dr. Richard Powers is a psychiatrist and neuropathologist who received his medical degree from the University of Kentucky in 1976. He served for three years in the United States Army as a Squadron Surgeon and Clinic Director. He completed an Anatomical Pathology Residency at the University of Kentucky. He completed a psychiatry residency and neuropathology fellowship at Johns Hopkins Hospital. He practiced psychiatry and neuropathology at the University Of Alabama School Of Medicine where he held the rank of Professor prior to retirement in 2011. While at UAB, Dr. Powers also served as the Medical Director for the Alabama Department of Mental Health and assisted with creating the geriatric mental health system for the state of Alabama as well as providing psychiatric services to persons with intellectual disability. He has subsequently practiced within the Veteran’s Administration Health Care system as an Associate Chief of Staff for Geriatrics and Extended Care as well as in the Outpatient Mental Health Clinic caring for veterans with PTSD. He continues to practice at the University as an Adjunct Professor in the departments of pathology and psychiatry as well as the Medical Director for Behavioral Health for VIVA Inc.
Dr. Powers has been involved in numerous public policy initiatives at the local, state and national levels. He was one of the founding members of the Alzheimer’s Foundation of America and he has assisted numerous advocacy programs on behalf of persons with dementia and their family caregivers. Dr. Powers is the recipient of numerous awards including his induction into the Alabama Health Care Hall of Fame and the Nathan Davis Award presented by the AMA in 2011 for public service provided at the state level. He is the author of numerous book chapters, scholarly publications and consumer education programs that focus on neurodegenerative diseases or neuropsychiatric disorders.
Alzheimer’s Research Report: The Latest from UAB on Treatment, Care and Cure
David S. Geldmacher, MD, FACP, is Professor of Neurology and Director of the Division of Memory Disorders and Behavioral Neurology at the University of Alabama at Birmingham, where he has been named the first Warren Family Endowed Chair in Neurology. He serves as Medical Director for Neurology at the University of Alabama (UAB) Hospital.
His research has centered on developing new dementia treatments, and ways of measuring the success of treatments. His other research interests include complex visual processing in aging and neurological conditions. Dr. Geldmacher is the author of Contemporary Diagnosis and Management of Alzheimer’s Dementia, and has published over 100 research articles, chapters, abstracts and reviews.
He is a Fellow of the American College of Physicians and the American Neurological Association, as well as a member of the American Academy of Neurology.
Dr. Geldmacher graduated magna cum laude from the University of Rochester with his BA in Biology and Psychology. He obtained his MD (with Certificate in Academic Research) from the State University of New York – Health Science Center at Syracuse. He trained in Neurology at Case Western Reserve University and completed a postdoctoral fellowship in Behavioral Neurology at the University of Florida.
Dr. Olivio J. Clay completed his doctoral degree in Lifespan Developmental Psychology in 2007 at the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB). Upon obtaining his degree, Dr. Clay accepted a position as an Assistant Professor in the Psychology department at UAB. He has been promoted to Associate Professor and earned tenured. The overall focus of his research is to aid in developing theory-based, culturally relevant interventions targeted to help reduce health disparities. Dr. Clay’s interests in Alzheimer’s disease and stroke caregiving center on how African Americans and Caucasians differ in response to the stress associated with these roles. His recent work has involved examining and comparing the longitudinal trajectories of physical and mental health outcomes in African American and Caucasian older adults in an attempt to identify potentially modifiable domains that may account for these differences.
Dr. Clay serves as the principal investigator of a study titled, “An enhanced social support intervention for African American caregivers.” The study is funded by a pilot award from the Deep South RCMAR, with a goal of translating an evidence-based, targeted intervention aimed to increase social support for use within African American caregivers. Dr. Clay serves as Associate Editor of Ethnicity and Health and is on the Editorial board for the Journal of Aging and Health.
Jeremy H. Herskowitz received his BS in Chemistry from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in 2001. He earned a PhD in Microbiology at Emory University and remained at Emory University for postdoctoral studies. As a fellow, Dr. Herskowitz conducted basic research in the laboratory of Drs. James Lah and Allan Levey at the Center for Neurodegenerative Disease, investigating cellular and animal models of Alzheimer’s disease. He was appointed as an Instructor of Neurology at Emory University in 2012. In 2014, he moved to UAB where he is now Assistant Professor of Neurology and Neurobiology and the Patsy W. and Charles A. Collat Scholar in Neuroscience.
The Herskowitz lab studies the neurobiology of Alzheimer Disease (AD) with a focus on understanding the underlying cellular and molecular mechanisms that will lead to better treatments. They apply modern neuroscience approaches to study animal and cellular models of AD. They have shown that inhibiting Rho kinase signaling with molecules substantially reduces the production of amyloid in experimental AD models, and they are continuing to use a variety of behavioral, electrophysiological, and biochemical approaches to better understand this protective effect.
Finding New Causes and Markers of Alzheimer’s with Genomics
Nicholas Cochran, PhD, is a postdoctoral fellow in the lab of Richard Myers, PhD, president, science director and faculty investigator at HudsonAlpha. Cochran investigates the genetic risk factors or causes of neurological diseases. He earned his PhD in neuroscience from the University of Alabama at Birmingham in September 2015 and joined the Myers Lab at HudsonAlpha in early 2016.
Corralling Negativity: Keys to Gaining Insight and Empathy
Lynda Everman has spent most of her adult life – 24 years – as a caregiver, first for her parents and then for her husband who was diagnosed with Mild Cognitive Impairment in 1997 and passed away from Alzheimer’s Disease in 2012. A retired Human Resources professional from the University of California, Lynda is determined to change the trajectory of Alzheimer’s disease through public policy, increased funding for biomedical research, and recruitment of volunteers for clinical trials.
Lynda is a board member of B.A.B.E.S. (Beating Alzheimer’s By Embracing Science), a founding member of ActivistsAgainstAlzheimer’s, WomenAgainstAlzheimer’s, and has recently served as founder and convener to ClergyAgainstAlzheimer’s. She is an editor and contributor to Seasons of Caring: Meditations for Alzheimer’s and Dementia Caregivers, an interfaith volume with more than 140 original meditations from seventy religious leaders and care specialists representing seventeen faith traditions. She and her husband, Dr. Don Wendorf, have served as editors for the Leader’s Guide for Seasons of Caring and Treasure for Alzheimer’s, both written by Dr. Richard Morgan.
Don Wendorf, PsyD, is a retired psychologist and marriage & family therapist, who practiced over 40 years, specializing in marriage therapy. He retired in 2013 to be the full-time caregiver for his increasingly stroke-disabled wife Susan, after taking care of her and working for 15 years. Like, Lynda, Don has been called to care for several family members. Don has been a professional musician since his high school days, playing in a variety of jazz and bluegrass bands as well as writing songs. He combined all these interests and experiences in two books, one on marriage Love Lyrics: The Musical Marital Manual and one on the emotional struggles in caregiving Caregiver Carols: a Musical, Emotional Memoir, both written primarily in song lyric (rhyming light verse) form to be most easily accessed, absorbed, recalled and applied. Don and his wife Lynda are avid hikers and advocates for increased funding for Alzheimer’s research. They met when he contributed to her book Seasons of Caring: Meditations for Alzheimer’s and Dementia Caregivers and together they have edited several additional books for caregivers.
Crisis Points in Managing Dementia Care
Christy Baynes, MSHA, MBA, CMC, President and Lead Geriatric Care Manager, LifeCare for Seniors, LLC
Nicole Crawford, Assistant Administrator/Unit Coordinator-Evergreen Memory Care, St. Martin’s in the Pines Assisted Living
Lemeshia Agee Chambers, MSW, Community Relations Coordinator, Brookwood Baptist Health, Princeton Baptist Medical Center-Senior Care
Sherri Friday, Jefferson County Probate Judge
Stephanie Sansing, Community Educator, Affinity Hospice
Preventing and Treating Cognitive Decline: A Different Approach
Dr. Kristine Lokken is a functional neuropsychologist with a passion for helping people restore brain health. Her extensive background in clinical research, medical neuropsychology, and holistic wellness merged together to co-found the Brain Health Institute (BHI) in Birmingham, AL. In addition to her work at BHI, she is currently the Director of the Rehabilitation Neuropsychology Service at the Birmingham VA Medical Center and serves as a Clinical Assistant Professor at UAB. She has maintained a private practice for over 15 years, and has seen thousands of patients with varying neurological and psychological issues in her clinical work.
Dr. Lokken received her PhD in Clinical Psychology from the University of North Dakota. She specialized in Neuropsychology and completed neuropsychology residency training at Rush Presbyterian St Luke’s Medical Center in Chicago, IL. She began her career as an Assistant Professor at the University of Alabama, prior to conducting research and clinical care at UAB. Dr. Lokken has published several articles in peer reviewed journals and has lectured extensively on brain health.
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