Markesbery Symposium

The Markesbery Symposium is held annually in memory of the late William R. Markesbery, MD, founding director of the Sanders-Brown Center on Aging and Alzheimer's Disease Research Center. Dr. Markesbery's legacy of groundbreaking research has formed the bedrock for our quest to understand and treat Alzheimer's disease and to improve the quality of life of older adults.聽 The two-day symposium features a daylong scientific meeting with poster session followed by a half-day community session to which the public is invited free of charge. An 鈥淎sk the Experts鈥� panel is a popular component of the community session.

An elderly couple sitting watching the beautiful, bright green landscape in front of them.

Markesbery Scientific Session

Join the 海角禁区 Sanders-Brown Center on Aging for the 15th annual Markesbery Symposium on Aging and Dementia, Scientific Session, to be held on Friday, Oct. 31, 2025, from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Alzheimer鈥檚 Disease Research Center Directors Dr. Julie Schneider (Rush University) and Dr. Andrew Saykin (Indiana University) will deliver the keynote presentations focused on hippocampal breakdown and therapeutic targets. In addition, University of Kentucky faculty, Drs. Elizabeth Rhodus and Peter Nelson will share about harmony while living with dementia and the amyloid cascade hypothesis.

Markesbery Community Session

Join the 海角禁区 Sanders-Brown Center on Aging for the 15th annual Markesbery Symposium on Aging and Dementia, Community Session, to be held on Saturday, Nov. 1, 2025, from 8 a.m. to noon. Clinicians and researchers from Rush University, Indiana University, and the University of Kentucky will come together to share current findings, trends, and the latest updates on dementia, particularly as related to Alzheimer鈥檚 disease and healthy brain aging. This is a hybrid event鈥攊n person at The Central Bank Center downtown and via Zoom.

2025 Markesbery Symposium Scientific Session Program

Download the 2025 Markesbery Symposium Scientific Session Program complete with this year's presenter information and abstracts!


锘縎cientific Session Past Presenters
2024	Charles DeCarli	Systemic Inflammation, Endothelial Injury and Extracellular Vesicle Signaling in Cerebrovascular Disease
2023	Malu Tansey, PhD	Targeting Chronic Inflammation and the Gut-Brain Axisto Reduce Risk for Neurodegeneration
2023	David Morgan, PhD	Immune Activation in Models of Tauopathy
2023	Anika Hartz, PhD	Blood-Brain Barrier Repair to Improve Cognition in Alzheimer鈥檚 Disease
2023	David Fardo, PhD	A Genome-wide Association Study of Neuropathological Endophenotypes
2022	Ann McKee, MD	CTE: What Is It? What Is Its Relationship to Repetitive Head Impacts?
2022	Josh Grill, PhD	Preclinical Alzheimer鈥檚 Disease: Translating Cutting Edge Research into Everyday Practice
2022	Kate Foley, PhD	The Role of Human Plasma Biomarkers in the Diagnosis of Dementia
2022	Mark Ebbert, PhD	Using Long-Read Sequencing Technologies to Identify Key Drivers and Biomarkers in Alzheimer鈥檚 Disease
2022	Ryan Shahidehpour, Graduate Student and TRIAD T32 Trainee,	The Role of Dystrophic Microglia in Neurodegenerative Diseases Related to Aging
2022	Christopher Norris, PhD	Strategies for Targeting Astrocyte Reactivity in Alzheimer鈥檚 Disease and Related Dementias (STAR-AD/ADRD)
2021	Frederick A. Schmitt, PhD	35 Years of the University of Kentucky Alzheimer鈥檚 DiseaseCenter: Past Discoveries and Future Directions
2021	Maj-Linda Selenica, PhD	Investigating the role of hypusinated eIF5A in AD and relatedTDP-43 proteinopathy disorders
2021	Josh Morganti, PhD	Diversity and susceptibility of microglial responses in a mousemodel of mixed etiology dementia
2020	Ronald Petersen, MD, PhD	Is MCI Still a Viable Construct in 2020?
2020	Alison Goate, D.Phil.	Human Genetics Implicates Efferocytosis in Alzheimer鈥檚 Disease
2019	Adam Brickman, PhD	Reconsidering Harbingers of Alzheimer鈥檚 Disease: Risk Factors, Biomarkers, and White Matter Hyperintensities
2019	Olivier Thibault, PhD	Ups and Downs of Calcium in Models of Aging and AD
2019	Jenna Gollihue, PhD	Manipulating Astrocytes for Better Brain Health
2019	Kendra Hargis-Staggs, PhD	Gray and White Matter Neurovascular Ceruloplasmin Expression in Alzheimer鈥檚 Disease
2019	Daniel C. Lee, PhD	Emerging Role of the Polyamine Stress Response in Alzheimer鈥檚 Disease
2018	Monica W. Parker, MD	Engaging the underserved in brain health and research
2018	Sanjay Asthana, MD, FACP	Preclinical biomarkers of Alzheimer鈥檚 disease: emerging concepts & clinical utility
2018	Donna Wilcock, PhD	Identification of novel fluid biomarkers for vascular cognitive impairment and dementia (VCID)
2018	Lance Johnson, PhD	Metabolic reprogramming and Alzheimer鈥檚 disease risk: the role of ApoE4
2018	Elizabeth Head, PhD	Changes in cerebrovascular pathology as a function of age and Alzheimer disease in Down syndrome
2018	Dr. Gregory Jicha, MD, PhD	Modulation of micro-RNA pathways by gemfibrozil in predementia Alzheimer disease: clinical translational research at Sanders-Brown Center on Aging


Community Session Past Presenters
2024	Lisa Barnes	Factors That Shape Brain Health and Risk of Alzheimers Disease in Older Adults
2024	Charles DeCarli	Lifes Essential 8: What You Can Do To Improve Your Brain Health
2023	Malu Tansey, PhD	Why Gut Health Matters for Brain Health
2023	David Morgan, PhD	Immunotherapy for Alzheimer鈥檚 Disease: 25 Years from Mouse Models to Approved Treatment in People Living with Alzheimer鈥檚
2023	Alaine Reschke-Hernandez, PhD, MT-BC	Harmonizing Music Therapy Research in Dementia Care
2023	Frederick Schmitt, PhD	Trisomy 21: Providing Insights into Dementia
2023	Gregory Jicha, MD, PhD	Anti-Amyloid Therapy: Who鈥檚 Benefitting and How Do We Move Forward?
2022	Josh Grill, PhD	Can We Prevent Alzheimer鈥檚?
2022	Ann McKee, MD	The Inconvenient Truth About Football
2022	Lauren Whitehurst, PhD	鈥淪leep Tight鈥�, 鈥淢emory Bright鈥�: Research on the Cost of Racial Sleep Disparities for Memory Processing
2022	Elizabeth Rhodus, PhD	Creating Harmony While Caring for People Living with Dementia
2021	Allan Levey, MD, PhD	Accelerating Progress for Treatments for Alzheimer鈥檚 Disease?
2021	Gregory Jicha, MD, PhD, & Erin Abner, PhD	Aducanamab / Aduhelm: The controversial new treatment for Alzheimer鈥檚 disease
2020	Maria Carrillo, PhD	Advancing the Science: The Latest in Alzheimer鈥檚 and Dementia Research
2020	Daniel Moga, MD, PhD	My Medications and Why Should I Know about Them
2020	Peter Nelson, MD, PHD	LATE: What It Is, Why It鈥檚 Important, and How We Might Beat It
2019	Laura D. Baker, PhD	Can LIFESTYLE Impact Health of the Mind As We Age?
2019	Gregory Jicha, MD, PhD	Clinical Trials Update
2018	Sanjay Asthana, MD, FACP	Early Diagnosis and Prevention of Alzheimer鈥檚 Disease: Role of Biomarkers and Estrogen Hormone
2018	Monica W. Parker, MD	Alzheimer鈥檚 and The Brain: What We Know