Clemson Institute for Engaged Aging to host second annual South Carolina Alzheimer’s Disease Research Center Symposium in Greenville

The Clemson University Institute for Engaged Aging (IEA) will host the second annual South Carolina Alzheimer's Disease Research Center (SC-ADRC) Symposium in collaboration with the Medical University of South Carolina and University of South Carolina November 7-8, 2024, at The Westin Poinsett in Greenville, S.C.

The symposium will feature the work of renowned researchers, clinicians, early-career scholars and students across the state. Goldie Byrd, Ph.D., professor of public health sciences and director of the Maya Angelou Center for Health Equity at Wake Forest School of Medicine, will deliver the keynote address.

Previously, Byrd served as dean of the College of Arts and Sciences, chair of the Department of Biology and Nathan F. Simms Endowed Distinguished Professor of Biology at North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University. While serving as dean, Byrd founded the interdisciplinary, community-engaged Center for Outreach in Alzheimer's Aging and Community Health (COAACH) to complement her research on the genetics of Alzheimer's disease (AD) in African Americans.

She conducts research on Alzheimer's disease in African Americans to understand genetic variants that might contribute to the increased burden of AD in this population. Her research is complemented by her passion for increasing access to care and participation of underrepresented groups in research and clinical trials.

The symposium will be an exchange of ideas, discoveries and enriching experiences as students, scholars and professionals come together to address Alzheimer's disease and related dementias (ADRD) in the state of South Carolina.

The event begins at 11:00 a.m. on November 7, 2024, and it is free to attend. For more information, contact symposium coordinator Sam Wiley at [email protected].

The Institute for Engaged Aging is in the Department of Psychology within the College of Behavioral, Social and Health Sciences (CBSHS). Established in July 2016, CBSHS is a 21st-century, land-grant college that combines work in nine disciplines - communication; nursing; parks, recreation and tourism management; political science; psychology; public health sciences; sociology, anthropology and criminal justice - to further its mission of "building people and communities" in South Carolina and beyond.