Conferences
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Previous Conference Events
The team was excited to present at the Gerontological Society of America annual scientific meeting, which is dedicated to promoting the latest advancements in aging. With over 10 accepted abstracts, the team was excited to highlight their research findings. The abstracts included topics on research evaluating falls, mental health, functional health, and cognitive decline.
Drs. Sara Pappa and Cathy Elrod delivered their research on evidence-based falls prevention programs and community-focused health initiatives aimed at promoting healthy aging at the 2025 Age+Action Conference, organized by the NCOA. This event served as a distinguished platform for exploring innovative projects, fostering networking among professionals, and garnering motivation to support and empower older adults within our communities. Held from May 28 to 30 in Arlington, Virginia, Age+Action 2025 was widely praised by attendees as an exemplary event, distinguished by engaging and inspiring presentations that foster optimism for a more promising future.
The VGCOA 2025 aims to honor the resilience of older adults in Virginia while promoting innovative solutions to improve their lives. The program encouraged discussion, engagement, and creativity in aging services, emphasizing inclusivity and progress nationwide.
We were also proud to have Erin Staker from MCOA share her research titled “The Invisible Arlingtonians: Examining Community Discrepancies Using the ACSM American Fitness Index.” Erin expressed that presenting at the conference was a great honor and highlighted the meaningful conversations she had with advocates who are advancing aging policy, research, and practice.
Mahederemariam Dagne was excited to present at the 18th Annual Research on Aging Showcase at Johns Hopkins University School of Public Health. She presented her team’s work on research waste, particularly in the context of exercise studies for Alzheimer’s. The study highlighted the problem of duplicated research and the need for better methods to reduce waste. Many attendees showed interest and stressed the importance of rigorous reviews to improve research quality and prevent unnecessary repetition.
Liz Terhune, MCOA Research Associate and MU Research Development Specialist, attended the Research Analytics Summit from April 6-9 in Albuquerque, New Mexico. The conference gathered data analysts and research administrators to discuss topics like artificial intelligence, research evaluation, and strategic planning.
The MCOA team was excited to attend the GSA 2024 Annual Scientific Meeting. MCOA fellows Dr. Catherine Diaz-Asper and Dr. Uma Kelekar presented their work on brain health and oral health respectively. MCOA Director, Dr. Patricia Heyn led the GSA Diversity Mentoring & Career Development Technical Assistance Workshop and also presented her various research works in caregiving and cognition. Dr. Sara Pappa, NVFPA coordinator and MCOA Affiliate presented her pivotal research on “Advancing Gerontological Health Equity: Innovations and Insights from Hispanic Serving Institutions“. Furthermore, Mahederemariam Dagne and Erin Staker presented their work on Research Waste and Micro-Credentials in Hispanic Serving Institutions respectively.
Dr. Patricia C. Heyn, MCOA Founding Director, took part in several presentations at the 2024 American Congress of Rehabilitation Medicine annual conference from October 31st to November 4th in Dallas, Texas. Additionally, she co-hosted the highly competitive NIH-funded R13 Diversity Mentoring Workshop in Complementary Integrative Rehabilitation Medicine (CIRM) along with Dr. Sonya Kim, New York University, Department of Rehabilitation Medicine, in collaboration with ACRM.
Furthemore, we were also excited to celebrate Dr. Shelly Aboagye’s selection as a CIRM Fellow.
We are delighted to have had Elizabeth Terhune attend the prestigious 2024 American Medical Writers Association Medical Writing and Communication conference, where she engaged with leading experts in the field of scientific writing! She also presented her work on definitions and terminology of “racial health equity,” within academic literature.
Ana Beatriz Pizarro, Cochrane Editorial Board, presented three abstracts on behalf of our MCOA team at the prestigious Global Evidence Summit. Co hosted by the Campbell corporation, JBI, Guidelines International Network (GIN) and Cochrane, the evidence summit brings together professionals from around the world to engage in evidence-based practices. With its mission to address critical issues affecting health and developing guidelines, the presentations on how the academic field defines racial health equity within the context of original peer-reviewed articles and public health websites fit the theme perfectly.
