15th annual Marksbery Symposium on Aging to be held Oct. 31-Nov. 1
LEXINGTON, Ky. (Sept. 24, 2025) — The 15th annual Markesbery Symposium on Aging and Dementia, an educational event for both the scientific community and the public, will take place Oct. 31-Nov. 1, 2025. The scientific session will be held at the Gatton Student Center at the University of Kentucky, and the community session will be held at the Central Bank Center. The community session is free and open to the public.
The symposium, hosted by UK’s Sanders-Brown Center on Aging, is named in honor and memory of the late William R. Markesbery, MD, the founding director of Sanders-Brown. Markesbery’s legacy of groundbreaking research has formed the bedrock for UK’s quest to understand and treat Alzheimer’s disease and to improve the quality of life of older adults.
Keynote speakers of the scientific session include:
- Julie Schneider, M.D., director of the Rush University Alzheimer's Disease Research Center and professor in the Rush University Departments of Pathology and Neurological Sciences, will present "Hippocampal Breakdown at the Crossroads of Proteinopathy and Inflammation in Aging."
- Dr. Andrew Saykin, Psy.D., director of the Indiana Alzheimer's Disease Research Center at Indiana University, will present: "Precision Health Strategies for Alzheimer's Disease and Related Dementias: From Systems Biology to Biomarkers and Therapeutic Targets."
- Elizabeth Rhodus, Ph.D., assistant professor of Behavioral Science, will present "Creating Harmony While Living with Dementia"
- Peter T. Nelson, M.D., Ph.D., Professor of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, will share " The Amyloid Cascade Hypothesis: Arguments for and against, with public health implications."
There will be a poster competition for outstanding work by undergraduate, graduate and postdoctoral students. The abstract submission deadline is Oct. 6. Please submit to Charlotte Wood at charlotte.wood@uky.edu.
Click here to register for the scientific session.
The community event speakers include Schneider and Saykin as well as Erin Abner, Ph.D., and Greg Jicha, M.D., Ph.D., who will share current findings, trends and the latest updates on dementia, particularly as related to Alzheimer’s disease and healthy brain aging.
Free registration and continental breakfast begin at 8 a.m. The program will begin at 9 a.m. There is also an option to attend via Zoom.
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