Shreveport Forum to Focus on Latest Alzheimer's Disease Research; Pennington Biomedical Research Center Experts; Physicians to Speak at Public Forum - 09.19.11

BATON ROUGE, LA - The Pennington Biomedical Research Center’s Institute for Dementia Research and Prevention (IDRP) is hosting an educational program on the latest research on dementia and Alzheimer's disease.

 The free event will be held on Tuesday, October 4, at the Clarion Hotel in Shreveport. The event is sponsored by Willis-Knighton Health System. Registration begins at 5:00 p.m.
“Our work is centered on the prevention of the disease,” said Dr. Jeffrey Keller, Ph.D., director of the IDRP at Pennington Biomedical. Keller says there are currently 100,000 individuals in Louisiana with Alzheimer’s disease.

Guests are asked to register for the forum by calling 1-877-276-8306 or visiting http://idrp.pbrc.edu/sp/.
“In our programs across the state, we have found that individuals want to know more about Alzheimer's and other types of dementia, including signs and symptoms and other aspects that we are learning from our research studies. We want to help answer these questions and others,” said Keller. The forum is designed for individuals who want to get the latest insights into clinical research findings and advances in the field of dementia and Alzheimer's disease.

The program will feature leading dementia experts, including Dr. Keller; Jeffrey Overdyke, M.D., of Willis-Knighton Health System; and John F. Bolter, Ph.D., M.P., of The NeuroMedical Center in Baton Rouge.
IDRP's annual conference series began in Baton Rouge in 2009, attracting more than 500 individuals, caregivers, and medical professionals to Pennington Biomedical each year. Because of the program’s ongoing success, the conference series expanded to include the Shreveport community in 2010. This event marks the second annual Shreveport-based conference for the IDRP.

The IDRP was established in 2009 to improve the quality of life for individuals in Louisiana through research programs focused on dementia prevention and to provide vital educational opportunities. IDRP is focused on creating clinical research infrastructure, attracting new clinical trials to the state of Louisiana and conducting conferences to promote the latest in dementia research and prevention.

"IDRP has recruited more than 1,000 Louisiana residents who are now participating in a longitudinal study to identify the basis for age-related dementia," said Dr. Keller. It is one of the largest studies of its kind in the nation aiming to develop tools for early detection and to develop therapeutic avenues for treatment.

The public forum will begin at 5:30 p.m. It will feature an open format with the opportunity to ask questions of the dementia experts. Seating, registration and exhibits will be available beginning at 5:00 p.m. The forum will be held at the Clarion Hotel, 1419 East 70th Street, Shreveport. Light refreshments will be served.

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Pennington Biomedical Research Center is the foremost academic nutritional research center in the world dedicated to finding a cure for chronic diseases.  Pennington Biomedical’s mission is to uncover the triggers of chronic diseases through innovative research that improves human health across the lifespan.  Set on 234 acres in Baton Rouge, the Pennington Biomedical campus is home to more than 100 scientists.  These researchers understand that many chronic diseases – like obesity and diabetes – are interconnected.  Together, these scientists are tackling multiple problems at once, and finding comprehensive, prevention-based solutions that offer hope to more people.

For More Information Contact:
Angela deGravelles
225-202-5073 or prpro@eatel.net
Jessica Erwin
225-763-2645 or jessica.erwin@pbrf.org