Seminar – Elizabeth Head, MA, PhD – “Down syndrome, Aging and Alzheimer’s Disease: Role for Cerebrovascular Pathology”

Elizabeth Head, MA, PhD
University of Kentucky

About the Speaker: Dr. Head received her B.Sc., MA and PhD in neuroscience from the University of Toronto, Canada.  She completed a postdoctoral position at the University of California at Irvine and remained as an assistant professor in residence, where she was the Director of the Brain Tissue Repository and served as Co-Leader of the Alzheimer Disease Center Neuropathology Core.  In 2009, Head moved to the University of Kentucky where she is now a professor and Associate Director of Education at the Sanders Brown Center on Aging.  The Head laboratory is dedicated to the understanding of aging and Alzheimer’s disease in people with Down syndrome.  People with Down syndrome are at a high risk for developing Alzheimer’s disease because they have an extra copy of chromosome 21 and they overexpress beta-amyloid protein. The team has been following a cohort of people with Down syndrome who are over 25 years of age for over 8 years to identify clinical, neuroimaging and fluid biomarker changes that may signal conversion to dementia (http://www.uky.edu/DSAging/). She is actively involved with local, national and international research teams involved with studies to improve the quality of life for people with Down syndrome and serves on the Science Advisory Committee for the National Down Syndrome Society.

Accreditation Statement

In support of improving patient care, the University of Wisconsin–Madison ICEP is jointly accredited by the Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education (ACCME), the Accreditation Council for Pharmacy Education (ACPE), and the American Nurses Credentialing Center (ANCC) to provide continuing education for the healthcare team.

Credit Designation Statements

American Medical Association (AMA)

The University of Wisconsin–Madison ICEP designates this live activity for a maximum of 1 AMA PRA Category 1 Credit™.  Physicians should claim only the credit commensurate with the extent of their participation in the activity.

Continuing Education Units

The University of Wisconsin–Madison ICEP, as a member of the University Professional & Continuing Education Association (UPCEA), authorizes this program for 0.1 continuing education units (CEUs) or 1 hour.

For Further Information: Contact Teresa Palumbo at 608.263.5837 or palumbo@waisman.wisc.edu

The seminar series is funded by the John D. Wiley Conference Center Fund, the Friends of the Waisman Center and NIH grant U54 HD090256.