This year’s conference, hosted by the and the Kentucky Association of Gerontology, follows the theme “Aging Inspired. Aging Reinvigorated,” and emphasizes an interdisciplinary approach to the aging experience that includes advances in medical research, lifestyle and culinary medicine, trauma-informed care and more.

“Participants in this year’s Optimal Aging Conference will have the opportunity to hear from esteemed experts in various fields, including octogenarians, speaking to the many opportunities we all have to age well,” said Anna Faul, executive director of the Trager Institute. “Although the pandemic has been challenging, those working in the field of aging and older adults themselves are inspired to continue to create opportunities for change, innovation and implementation of models of care that will reinvigorate the aging field.”

This multi-day event will feature two preconference speakers, five keynote speakers, more than 30 breakout and poster sessions and opportunities to network and earn continuing education credits.

2022 Optimal Aging Conference keynote addresses:

• Aging inspired. Aging reinvigorated: Panel honoring octogenarians; facilitated by Sandy Markwood, MUP, CEO, USAging.��Honorees: Mattie Jones, Marie Clay, Marie Vessels, State Representative Tom Burch, Father Jim Flynn
• Alzheimer’s update; Gregory Jicha, MD, PhD, director, UK Sanders-Brown Center on Aging
• Culinary medicine: Hungry for change; Robert Graham, MD, MPH, ABOIM, FACP, chef and co-founder, FRESH Medicine
• Aging as an opportunity; Robert Friedland, MD, professor, UofL Department of Neurology
• Integrating lifestyle medicine into standard medical practice, Dexter Shurney, MD, vice president. and chief medical officer of Adventist Health and Blue Zones Institute

In addition to the keynote presentations, experts in breakout and poster sessions will discuss such topics as creative interventions for social isolation, trauma-informed care, acupuncture as an evidence-based therapy for addressing stress and burnout, age-friendly cities and communities and coding for seniors.

Participants who attend the preconference on Sunday, April 24 may attend a full-day session from Anthony Watkins on assessing and managing suicide or a half-day session with Claude Drouet on addressing the complexities in social work ethics. Participants can also register for a free webinar by Teepa Snow, an occupational therapist who specializes in dementia care and dementia education, on April 24 from 4:30 to 6:30 p.m. The discussion will focus on how to cope when one is the sole caregiver.

“The Optimal Aging Conference has its origins more than four decades ago in the Kentucky Association for Gerontology Conference, an event for everyone who cared about issues related to aging in our communities including professionals from all disciplines as well as students, older adults and caregivers,” said Barbara Gordon, Trager Institute’s director of community engagement. “The Trager Institute continues that tradition with its conference this year making sure that a diverse and inclusive group of individuals are not only participating but also presenting at the conference.” 

Last year, the conference moved to a virtual platform in response to the COVID-19 pandemic and will again be held virtually this year. Register .

The conference, now in its fourth year, will feature experts in aging, dementia and Alzheimer’s research, innovation and public health. The and the are hosting the conference April 19-21 at the Brown Hotel, 335 W. Broadway, in Louisville.

“We are thrilled to present such a strong line-up of speakers,” said Anna Faul, PhD, executive director of the University of Louisville Trager Institute. “The presenters, along with our breakout and poster sessions, will provide an incredibly rich and engaging experience for anyone working in the aging field or who has interest in inspiring our understanding of aging,” she said.

2020 Optimal Aging Conference Topics and Speakers:

Aging Inspired in Kentucky: Directions in Aging Policy (Panel Discussion)

• Sandy Markwood, national CEO, National Association of Area Agencies on Aging
• Eric Friedlander, acting secretary, Kentucky Cabinet for Health & Family Services
• LaDonna Koebel, executive director, Office of Senior Protection & Mediation, Kentucky Office of the Attorney General

A Community Network Approach to Health
Eric Feigl-Ding, PhD, chief health economist, MicroClinic International; faculty member, Harvard Medical School and Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Boston

Ending the Alzheimer’s Pandemic
Dale Bredesen, MD, professor, UCLA; founding president and professor emeritus, Buck Institute for Research on Aging; author of New York Times bestseller, The End of Alzheimer’s

AARP Keynote: Words of Wisdom for #Agetech Entrepreneurs
Nigel Smith, MBA, director, Hatchery Ventures, AARP Innovation Labs, Washington, D.C.

Alzheimer’s Update
Gregory Jicha, MD, PhD, professor of neurology; director, Sanders-Brown Center on Aging at the University of Kentucky

Guided by the theme “Aging Inspired,” conference attendees also will hear from experts on a number of topics including: how to prevent financial elder abuse, national programs and arts activism counteracting ageism, programs for caregivers of persons with Alzheimer’s Disease and related dementias, the future impacts of artificial intelligence and robotics in senior care, trauma-informed care of older adults, international evidence-based falls programs, lifestyle medicine nutrition and more.

“The 2020 Optimal Aging Conference provides outstanding resources, inspiring ideas, and continuing education for Kentucky’s aging service professionals. The conference is a great opportunity for networking and professional development,” said Stacey Watkins, president of the Kentucky Association of Gerontology.

The UofL Trager Institute also will host a mobile workshop for its new Republic Bank Foundation Optimal Aging Clinic. The clinic, located in Louisville’s Innovation Corridor, is a one-stop-shop that provides integrated life-long wellness by combining lifestyle and preventative medicine with specialized and acute care.

Early-bird registration ends March 22. More information, including registration, is .��

The program aims to bridge the divide between research and practice by covering a comprehensive list of topics, including social services, therapy, elder law, social entrepreneurship, tech startups, music therapy, interior design, health care management, government, physical therapy, nursing, psychiatry, biological sciences, sociology and geriatric medicine.

The event will also include networking and professional growth opportunities.

Keynote speakers are:

• Hon. Andrew Beshear, JD, Kentucky Attorney General
• Bob Blancato, MPA, executive director of the National Association of Nutrition and Aging Services Programs
• Sandy Markwood, CEO, National Association of Area Agencies on Aging

Irving B. Perlstein Gerontology Lectureship

Also serving as keynote speakers are Gregory Jicha, professor, UK Sanders-Brown Center on Aging, and Christopher Callahan, director, IU Center for Aging Research. They will deliver the Irving B. Perlstein Gerontology Lectureship. Their focus will be on Alzheimer’s Disease.��

Dr. Perlstein was a member of the Medical Staff at Jewish Hospital during his career. He specialized in internal medicine and was recognized for his significant research on aging and thyroid dysfunction. He died in 1995 and this lectureship was created by his family as a living memorial to him and his commitment to his patients and healthcare.��

Additionally, former UofL and NBA basketball player Darrell Griffith, “Dr. Dunkenstein,” will serve as the event’s honorary chair and Optimal Aging catalyst during the event. Griffith will be introduced in the beginning of the conference.

Continuing education credit is available for a variety of professionals, including MDs, social workers, nurses and long-term care administrators.

The conference is June 11-13 at the Galt House Hotel on the Louisville waterfront. This conference is jointly hosted by the  and the .

For more information or to register, visit the  website.��

Christopher Callahan, MD, will deliver a presentation titled “Caring for Patients with Alzheimer’s Disease” during the Tuesday morning general session at 8 a.m. Gregory Jicha, MD, PhD,  will present “Update on Alzheimer’s Disease” – inspired by his popular presentations at the University of Kentucky’s former Summer Series on Aging – at the final general session of the conference at 12:30 p.m.

Callahan is the founding director of the Indiana University Center for Aging Research and a research scientist at the Regenstrief Institute where the center is housed. He has more than two decades of experience in studying clinical interventions and new models of care designed to improve outcomes for older adults.

Jicha is the associate director of the NIA-funded Alzheimer’s Disease Center and a professor in the Department of Neurology and the Sanders-Brown Center on Aging at the University of Kentucky. He also serves on the center’s Executive Committee and is the director of its Clinical Core.

The three-day Optimal Aging Conference, “Approaching Aging as a Life-Long Journey,” brings together academicians, providers, professionals, community members and others with interest in the field of aging. It is organized by UofL’s Institute for Sustainable Health and Optimal Aging and the Kentucky Association for Gerontology.

Full conference registration is required for individuals to attend the Perlstein lecture, and for the conference closes April 30. Medical CMEs for the conference will be available to conference attendees. Other disciplines also will be able to receive continuing education credits.

For more information, visit or call 502-852-5629.

The conference will be held June 11-13, 2017, at the Galt House Hotel, 140 N. Fourth St.

The Optimal Aging Conference brings together academics, professionals and older adults across a variety of disciplines who are united by a view that aging is an opportunity, not a disease. Institute Executive Director Anna Faul, PhD said, “This conference is unique in that it emphasizes the potential when diverse individuals come together united in a common commitment to transforming our current aging paradigm, including participation and input from older adults and caregivers.”

Abstract submissions for the conference close Friday, Dec. 16 at 11:59 p.m. Practitioners and academicians in any field related to aging care can submit an abstract as the conference will examine service delivery complexities and burdens through both academic and professional workforce perspectives.

Abstracts can be submitted . More detailed information can be accessed The opening of the abstract submissions is the finale of the Institute’s observance.

The Optimal Aging Conference supports the dissemination of biopsychosocial aging research, age-friendly product innovation, and evidence-based practice and education models and social service delivery. The theme of the conference this year is “Approaching Aging as a Life-Long Journey.” 

“For optimal aging to be realized, we must infuse a lifespan approach into our work, practice, and research,” said Barbara Gordon, past president of KAG.��

Early bird registration for the conference will open Feb. 15, 2017. The early bird registration fee for students, medical residents and senior citizens (age 65 and older) is $100; $240 for KAG Members; and $260 for all other academics and professionals. After Feb. 15, registration will be an additional $10 per category.

More information about the conference is .��