from the director - university of denver...kavod senior life, shalom park, jewish family services,...

Quality in Life, Wellness and Community

Dear Readers,

Another exciting fall has swept by, filled with

interesting research, programs and

workshops. We have had a very successful year and KIHA faculty have

received funding from the NIH and from many other funding agencies.

Congratulations to Dr. Aurélie Ledreux, who received a highly coveted

Alzheimer Association grant, and to Dr. Eric Chess, who received one of few awarded Next 50 Initiative grants. KIHA

faculty are collaborating with many other faculty and students across DU

and also with other Universities. This has resulted in many interdisciplinary

publications and presentations. We also had many community programs

this year. I hope you joined us for some of these programs, spanning from

faculty and student chalk talks, seminars, workshops, webinars,

educational seminars, and classes. Together with OLLI (Osher Lifelong Learning Institute), we have had a group

of OLLI members meeting monthly

during the fall focusing on Artificial Intelligence in the KIHA space. Many of

the KIHA faculty have participated in OLLI or other community classes focused

on Financial Security, Parkinson’s disease, dementia, and healthy aging.

The community organizations working with us on education programs are OLLI, Dementia Friendly Denver, and A Little

Help to name a few.

We have also started a series of Lunch & Learn sessions at KIHA, with the first

session focused on Parkinson’s disease in November. If you are curious about the programs offered at KIHA, you can find

information on our website or email us: [email protected].

We hope that you had a chance to

attend our holiday celebration on December 7. We focused this year’s celebration on World War II veterans,

and we had some interesting speakers. The first speaker was Dr. William Koch,

a 98-year-old physicist who participated in the Manhattan Project as a young

graduate student. Dr. Leah Weinberg, who is a Visiting Professor in Musicology in the Lamont School, followed Dr. Koch.

December 2018 Newsletter

From the Director

continued on p. 2

Dr. Weinberg talked about the history and societal context of the music of the

WWII era, including the USO and what that music means to the veterans.

The celebration also featured photographs and stories from U.S.

Veterans displayed around the event space for attendees to read about their

bravery and life stories. Some photos did not contain a story, a poignant

reminder of the ravages of dementia. Dr. Roddy MacInnes, a DU Studio Art and Photography professor, produced these

lovely portraits and provided the integrated photo and story prints.

On a sad note, the KIHA benefactor Betty Knoebel passed away earlier in the

fall. Mrs. Knoebel did so much good for DU and for the Knoebel Institute, and we are forever grateful for her

contribution.

I would like to take a moment to thank

everyone who has contributed to the Institute during this year and earlier

years. We could not have accomplished what we have in such a short time period without your help!

Finally, I wish all of you a wonderful holiday season and a Happy New Year,

with hopes of another interesting and fulfilling year.

Dr. Lotta Granholm Executive Director

From the Director (continued from p. 1)

Knoebel Institute for Healthy Aging | December 2018 Newsletter | page 2

Dr. William Koch. Dr. Leah Weinberg.

Attendees at KIHA’s December 7th event listen

to the presentations.

Pictured from left: Narma Welch, Dr. Granholm,

Dr. H. W. Koch, Kathy Koch McClintic.


Dr. Aurélie Ledreux joined KIHA in October 2016. Dr. Granholm invited her

to move from the Granholm lab at the Medical University of South Carolina to

Denver to join KIHA. Dr. Ledreux began her career at KIHA as a postdoctoral

fellow, or postdoc, as the position is known in the research world.

After only one year at KIHA, Dr. Ledreux was promoted to the position of

Assistant Research Professor. In the short time since her promotion, Dr. Ledreux

has won two grants. The first is a highly coveted Alzheimer’s Association grant. KIHA is proud to have an assistant

research professor who is the only recipient of such a grant in Colorado this

year. In addition, Dr. Ledreux received a KIHA pilot grant. Both grants involve

research on exosomes as biomarkers for Alzheimer’s disease.

What led to Dr. Ledreux’s interest in aging and groundbreaking work on

biomarkers?

Dr. Ledreux grew up just outside of Paris, France and began her career with a Bachelor’s degree in Biology from the

University Pierre et Marie Curie in 2001. She chose Biology due to her fascination

for the complexity and diversity of life.

After graduating, Dr. Ledreux took evening classes in food science, and

eventually earned an internship in Paris

at the National Museum of Natural

History. There her research focused on

the character-ization and

detection of marine natural toxins produced by

microalgae.

Dr. Ledreux earned a Master’s degree

in Toxicology in 2005, completed an Engineering degree in food science in 2006, and then

started her doctoral work at the French Agency for Food, Environmental and

Occupational Health & Safety. She graduated with a Ph.D. in Environmental

Toxicology in 2010. Her Ph.D. work focused on the development of in vitro cell assays to assess the risk for human

health linked to the onset of emerging marine natural toxins in fish products.

Once Dr. Ledreux completed her Ph.D. work, she moved into her postdoctoral

work in Paris. In 2011, Dr. Leadreux was awarded with

a postdoctoral fellowship from the National Research Council of the

National Academics to work at the Marine Biotoxins Program for NOAA. She

then moved with her husband and French cat to Charleston. Her projects

Spotlight on KIHA Assistant Research Professor Dr. Aurélie Ledreux

continued on p. 4

Dr. Aurélie Ledreux


focused on investigating the transfer of marine biotoxins in the food web.

In 2014, Dr. Ledreux joined Dr. Lotta

Granholm’s lab at the Medical University of South Carolina in Charleston as a

postdoctoral researcher. Her work there looked at the effect of a high fat diet and inflammation on cognition in aging

animal models.

Dr. Ledreux’s current research focuses on studying aging biomarkers in

biofluids, primarily blood. She also mentors DU undergraduates on their own projects throughout the year (see

p. 7 for more about the projects of the students mentored by Dr. Ledreux). Most

recently, she worked with a DU student on how curiosity can affect aging

biomarker levels in the elderly.

In the future, Dr. Ledreux hopes to identify biomarkers for early neuro-

degenerative disease detection.

Dr. Ledreux using a microscope to

review specimens in the KIHA lab.

Research Focus:

Using Immunocal® to Treat Brain Injury

Spotlight on Dr. Aurélie Ledreux (continued from p. 3)

Dr. Dan Linseman and his team of researchers at DU study the

neuroprotective and therapeutic effects of natural products. Their

paper entitled “The cysteine-rich whey protein supplement,

Immunocal®, preserves brain glutathione and improves cognitive, motor, and

histopathological indices of traumatic brain injury in a mouse

model of controlled cortical impact” was published in August in the scientific

journal Free Radical Biology and Medicine.

Traumatic brain injury (TBI) is a world-wide health issue that affects many

individuals including athletes, military

continued on p. 5


personnel, young children, and the elderly. TBI results in devastating and

long-lasting consequences. These include learning deficits, motor

impairment, brain inflammation, and neuronal cell death. TBI may also

increase the risk of developing neurodegenerative diseases, such as Alzheimer’s disease. Despite the

common occurrence and damaging outcomes of TBI, few preventative

measures and treatment options are available.

This is why the work of Dr. Linseman and his lab is critical. In their publication,

the lab used a model of TBI to explore the protective effects of the whey

protein supplement, Immunocal®, against the harmful actions of TBI.

Immunocal® acts as a precursor for glutathione (GSH), an essential antioxidant in the brain. GSH protects

cells against damage from free radicals, molecules which are normally produced

at low levels in a healthy brain.

However, following TBI, free radical production is dramatically increased in the injured brain. Neurotrophic factors,

molecules which support growth and survival of neurons, are also depleted in

the brain following TBI. Pre-treatment with Immunocal® for one month prior to

TBI resulted in preservation of brain GSH and neurotrophic factors.

Immunocal® also reduced inflammation and protected neurons from free radical damage, ultimately decreasing cell

death. As a result, pre-treatment with

Immunocal® hastened recovery and corrected cognitive and motor

impairments.

These findings are promising and indicate that Immunocal® could be used

as a safe nutritional supplement in populations that are at a high risk for TBI, such as athletes in contact sports

and military personnel. Detrimental effects on the brain may be minimized,

ultimately sparing affected individuals from potentially tragic long-term

consequences of TBI.

The abstract of this paper is available to view online at: https://

www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/ 29940352. Please email

[email protected] for a full PDF version of the paper.

Members of the Linseman lab at the 2018 Walk

to Defeat ALS at Sloan’s Lake. From left: Srivalli

Puttagunta, Nathan Duval, Lilia Koza, Dan Linseman and Claudia Pena.

Research Focus (continued from p. 4)

LinkAGES Colorado: Connecting Generations is a collaborative initiative

committed to the prevention and reduction of social

isolation through the creation of

opportunities to develop lasting, substantive

relationships across generations. LinkAGES

is a collaboration of community

organizations that serve populations

across the lifespan. Members include

Kavod Senior Life, Shalom Park, Jewish Family Services, the Staenberg-Loup

Jewish Community Center, Denver Jewish Day School, and Generations

United. Additionally, the University of Denver provides evaluation and background research support for all

LinkAGES programs. KIHA houses the LinkAGESoffice, where program

coordinator Carson De Fries works. Funding for the LinkAGES Colorado

initiative has been generously provided by the Strear Family Foundation.

These intergenerational programs provide opportunities for different

generations to come together to serve as resources for one another and to

their communities by sharing experiences, knowledge, and skills that

are mutually beneficial and foster positive relationships.

Research has shown the benefits of interactions between the younger and

older generations. For children, studies have shown improvements in academic

growth, increased empathy, confidence and social esteem. For older adults

improvements are seen in physical health and well-being, brain health, and quality of life. Overall benefits for the

community are increased social connectedness, civic engagement,

reductions in social isolation, and environmental consciousness. Essential

to all these programs are interactions that meet the needs of participants of all ages by cultivating understanding and

friendship between the generations.

LinkAGES’ first round of pilot projects, launched in the Spring of 2018, were a

collaborative effort between Shalom Park, Kavod, Jewish Student Connection, and Hazon that brought

older adults and high-school students together around sharing stories of and

preparing traditional foods. The program was well received by participants of all

ages. In response to a question about feeling connected with the youth, one older adult replied, “She is my new

grandchild.” Members are currently planning a second round of pilot

projects to launch in Fall 2018/Spring 2019 with diverse themes including

photography, art, food, and mentorship.

To learn more or contribute, please email

the LinkAGES Intergenerational Program Coordinator Carson De Fries at:

[email protected].

KIHA Collaborates with Intergenerational Program


Carson De Fries


KIHA’s Student Collaborators Presented at

Research & Scholarship Symposium

By Sarah Thomas This year I had

the awesome opportunity to

present my summer

research at the DU Under- graduate

Research Symposium in

the Cable Center.

My summer project explored if cognitive exercise (memory training, etc.) has an effect on inflammation levels in elderly

individuals. Inflammation levels are significant because they generally

increase as we age, indicating poorer health. To test this, I measured cytokine

levels indicative of inflammation before and after participants underwent long-term cognitive training. Although I was

unable to find a significant difference between the two time points, my

research is ongoing as the Granholm Lab continues to gain cutting-edge

technology that allows for more sensitive testing. I’m now carrying out

experiments to test if cognitive exercise has the potential to decrease Alzheimer’s biomarkers.

I deeply enjoyed the symposium. Many

who visited my poster were intrigued about what they could do to live longer,

healthier lives. My hope this year is to expand my research so that I can provide more answers to this question!

Sarah Thomas is a biology major with a

minor in psychology, chemistry, and physics of the body with a cognitive

neuroscience emphasis. She expects to graduate in Spring 2019 and aspires to be a physician researcher (MD/PhD).

By Allison Grossberg Curiosity is often used to describe the

imaginative musings of a child or the mischievous destruction of the family

dog. It is not often talked about in relation to health, aging or the

development of neurodegenerative disease—although perhaps it should be.

Recent research has uncovered a possible link between level of curiosity, and the

development of neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer’s disease

(AD). Based on a body of literature suggesting that curiosity may serve as a

buffer against mental decline and backed by a community of supportive,

knowledgeable and passionate individuals, I designed and ran a study that I hope will lead to discoveries about

how learning and curiosity change the brain and how such processes are

Cognitive Training in the Elderly:

A Possible Preventative Method for Chronic Inflammation

Can Curiosity Affect Blood Biomarkers for Alzheimer’s Disease?

continued on p. 8

Sarah Thomas


involved with the progression of Alzheimer’s. I am proud to share that in

coordination with KIHA, OLLI, and Clermont Park

Lifeplan Community, 39 older individuals from

metro Denver have enrolled in a pilot

study—the first of its

kind, to my know-ledge—to investigate the benefits of

increasing curious thought and behavior. I hope this study will contribute to the

development of new tools for decreasing risk or delaying onset of AD. It may help older individuals who are economically

disadvantaged, isolated, or have not been exposed to education to

experience the same benefits from cognitive activity as those who have

access to the resources they need.

I presented a poster on this research at the 2017 Undergraduate Research and Scholarship Symposium at DU. Pre-

liminary data analyses are underway in the Granholm and Ledreux labs. KIHA

kindly hosted a formal, English-style “Curiosity Tea” in late October where I

shared the preliminary data with a lively and engaged group of participants. Thank you to KIHA for this opportunity!

Recent Publications 1. Ignowski E, Winter AN, Duval N, Fleming

H, Wallace T, Manning E, Koza L, Huber

K, Serkova NJ, Linseman DA. The cysteine-

rich whey protein supplement, Immunocal®,

preserves brain glutathione and improves cognitive, motor, and histopathological

indices of traumatic brain injury in a mouse

model of controlled cortical impact. Free

Radical Biology Medicine. 2018 Aug

20;124:328-341. doi: 10.1016/j.freeradbiomed.2018.06.026.

2. Ahmed, A. A., Smoczer, C., Pace, B.,

Patterson, D. and Cress Cabelof, D.

(2018), Loss of DNA polymerase β induces

cellular senescence. Environ. Mol. Mutagen., 59: 603-612. doi:10.1002/

em.22206

3. Goetzl EJ, Elahi FM, Mustapic M,

Kapogiannis D, Pryhoda M, Gilmore A,

Gorgens KA, Davidson B, Granholm A-C, and Ledreux A. (2018) Altered levels of plasma

neuron-derived exosomes and their cargo

proteins characterize acute and chronic

mild traumatic brain injury. FASEB J. (in

press).

Recently Awarded Grants 1. Dr. Eric Chess was awarded a two-year

grant from the Next Fifty Initiative to

increase awareness and early identification

of impaired financial decision making by

creating a publically available, practical and accessible testing method and providing

education and outreach to vulnerable aging

populations in Colorado.

2. Dr. Lotta Granholm, along with Dr. Liz

Head of University of Kentucky, was awarded a grant from the National Institute

on Aging. They will study mTOR activation

and the pathogenesis of Alzheimer disease

in Down syndrome.

3. Dr. Daniel Linseman received a two-year grant from the Ralph L. Smith Foundation,

“Biomarker analysis of pathogenic SOD1 and

TDP-43 in neuron- and glial-derived

exosomes from blood of sporadic ALS

patients.” The goal of this project is to evaluate the potential of exosome cargo to

act as blood-based biomarkers for ALS.

Suzanne Birkans initially gave us $50,000 in

2017 and then gave an additional $60,000+

in 2018 towards this project.

New Publications and Awarded Grants

Can Curiosity Affect Blood Biomarkers? (continued from p. 7)

Allison Grossberg

https://doi.org/10.1002/em.22206

https://doi.org/10.1002/em.22206


Players in the intergenerational croquet

match.

James Creasey is the founder of Jiminy Wicket. Through this organization, he

arranges intergenerational croquet games for seniors and students in several

countries. Jiminy Wicket trains and equips high-school and college students

to host croquet programs as an outing every two weeks for the residents of local senior communities.

On June 6, 2018 , Jiminy Wicket

organized the first-ever croquet match that spanned a 100-year age gap! The

intergenerational croquet game took place at Vi in Highlands Ranch and featured players from 3 to 103 years old.

It was a lovely evening full of smiles and friendly competition.

KIHA in the Community

2019 marks the third year that KIHA offers Tai Chi!

In 2019, Tai Chi will be

held on Fridays from noon until 1 pm in the

ECS fifth floor event space.

Join KIHA’s instructor Jean Gan, who is a

physical therapist and has taught Tai Chi for

more than seven years. She is certified to teach by the Tai Chi for Health Institute. Jean

teaches Yang and Sun styles. She is

convinced that Tai Chi is a huge benefit to healthy

aging!

This is an intergener-ational event open to DU

students, faculty, staff, and community members. Everyone is welcome,

regardless of age or previous knowledge in Tai

Chi. Drop by to learn or deepen your practice

with others.

If you have questions, email

[email protected].

KIHA Plays Intergenerational Croquet

KIHA Offers Tai Chi to All

Tai Chi instructor Jean Gan.

Walk to End Alzheimer’s:

Team KIHA Pioneers

KIHA faculty are dedicated to finding a cure for Alzheimer’s disease through our

groundbreaking research. Staff and students support this dedication in a myriad of ways. All were happy to

participate in the annual walk for the Alzheimer’s Association to raise

awareness and funds for Alzheimer's disease. On Saturday, September 15, the

KIHA Pioneers Team gathered at 9 am in Denver’s City Park to participate.

KIHA extends a hearty THANK YOU to all who supported us by joining our team,

walking with us, or donating. Thanks to you we raised more than $3,730,

exceeding our team goal. Join us for next year’s walk!

Memories in the Making Art Auction Dr. Granholm, along with KIHA faculty,

staff, and friends, attended the Alzheimer’s Association art auction held at the Denver Broncos Field House in

Englewood on June 9.

KIHA acquired some beautiful pieces of art and extend our sincere gratitude to Linda Elliott & Phillip Seawalt and Peter

& Jenna Merlin for their donations. The art is proudly displayed at KIHA and we

invite you to come over and learn the stories behind the unique paintings.

KIHA in the Community


from the director - university of denver...kavod senior life, shalom park, jewish family services,...

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