Keynote Presentations

The mission of the Sanders-Brown Center on Aging at the University of Kentucky is to enable healthy brain aging for all adults in Kentucky and beyond. For over 45 years, the Center has done pioneering research on the aging process and age-related brain diseases such as Alzheimer’s disease and related dementias. The Center also has active educational and training programs, outreach and partnerships, and clinical programs and services for the community. The keynote address will provide an overview of Center activities and resources, and discuss its research, education, outreach, and clinical programs that aim to improve the health and quality of life of all people as they age. 

BIOGRAPHY

Linda Jo Van Eldik, PhD, is Director of the Sanders-Brown Center on Aging and Alzheimer’s Disease Research Center, Co-Director of the Kentucky Neuroscience Institute, and Professor of Neuroscience, University of Kentucky, Lexington KY. Her background includes a PhD in Microbiology and Immunology from Duke University, postdoc in Virology and Cell Biology at Rockefeller University, NY, and faculty member at Vanderbilt University and Northwestern University, Chicago. She is an AAAS fellow and a National Advisory Council on Aging member. Her research focuses on dysregulated neuroinflammation, identifying potential points of intervention, and developing new small molecule drug candidates to slow the progression of cognitive impairment and neurodegeneration.

Old Friends provides a dignified retirement to Thoroughbreds whose racing and breeding careers have ended. By promoting these once celebrated horses through a campaign of education and tourism, our goal is to raise awareness of the importance of equine aftercare. In 2003 we started with a leased paddock and one horse. Over the years we have expanded to a 236-acre farm, four satellite locations and a herd of over 280 retired Thoroughbreds. Home to Kentucky Derby winners Silver Charm and I’ll Have Another, we are a leading tourist destination in Kentucky. Thousands of fans visit their turf heroes and get up-close-and-personal with racing’s superstars and blue-collar horses alike. We are proud to share their stories with you.

BIOGRAPHY
Michael Blowen founded Old Friends, a retirement farm for Thoroughbreds, in 2003. Old Friends is Blowen’s third career. For two decades he was movie critic and arts writer for the Boston Globe, and prior to that he taught film at Emerson College and Boston University. Blowen mucked out stalls and hot-walked horses at Suffolk Downs. He imagined that learning about racing from the ground up would help his handicapping. It didn’t. Instead, he fell in love with the horses. After retiring from the Globe he moved to Kentucky to work as Operations Director for the Thoroughbred Retirement Foundation. Two years later he started Old Friends, which today cares for over 280 Thoroughbred retirees.

If you ask someone what things they associate with Kentucky one of the likely responses is “bourbon.”  Alcohol-based beverages have been an important part of human culture for thousands of years.  Many of you will “hit the bourbon trail” and take a distillery tour while you are here.  This presentation will help you understand some of the science involved in the bourbon-production process that you will see on a tour.  It will also illustrate some of the approaches that the presenter has found useful in developing and teaching science-based courses for adult learners.

BIOGRAPHY
Dr. Diane Vance earned a PhD from the University of Kentucky in radioanalytical chemistry. She has science teaching experience at all levels from middle school through graduate chemistry courses and has industrial experience as a training director in the nuclear weapons industry. Diane has been an OLLI instructor and participant since her retirement from Eastern Kentucky University. She has created and taught 15 different science-based courses for OLLI at UK, and knows first-hand the many benefits of OLLI membership as a means of continued cognitive, social, and physical engagement in retirement. Diane is also a volunteer community educator for the Alzheimer’s Association and is on the board of the Bluegrass Parkinson’s Alliance.