College of Pharmacy to Host Symposium on Brain Health and Aging

College of Pharmacy to Host Symposium on Brain Health and Aging

The University of Toledo College of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences will host a multidisciplinary conference focused on brain health and aging Friday, Nov. 15, in downtown Toledo.

The symposium, which will be held at the Glass City Center, runs from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., is open to students, researchers, healthcare professionals and the general public.

Online registration has closed, but individuals can still register to attend at the door.

"Brain health and aging is an area that has a lot of interest right now, and it's also an area of research expertise within our college," said Dr. Pamela Heaton, dean of the College of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences. "We are looking to foster collaboration in this area and make UToledo a destination for brain and brain health research."

The event begins with a keynote address from Dr. Richard Miller from the University of Michigan on the current state of drugs that slow aging. Miller is a professor of pathology and director of the University of Michigan Paul F. Glenn Center for Biology of Aging Research.

Additional morning scientific presentations will cover graceful aging, Alzheimer's drug development and how studies of animals have helped inform our understanding of human cognition.

A pair of panel discussions on clinical care and community support will follow lunch.

The clinical care panel, which begins at 1 p.m. and will feature Dr. Luisa Corpuz, a UToledo Health family and geriatric medicine specialist, and Dr. Candice Garwood, a professor in the Department of Pharmacy Practice at Wayne State University, is focused on caring for patients with Alzheimer's and other diseases of aging.

The community panel, which includes representatives from the Area Office on Aging of Northwest Ohio, MemoryLane Care Services, the Alzheimer's Association Northwest Ohio Chapter and AARP, begins at 2 p.m.

"We're really trying to make these discussions accessible to the community," Heaton added. "This event is a way for us to highlight the fantastic work our faculty are doing, but also to hear patient and provider prospectives. Bringing together researchers, clinicians and the community helps foster better understanding of how together we can confront these issues and hopefully provide better care for individuals affected by Alzheimer's and other diseases of aging."

Additional information is available on the College of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences website.