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Okonkwo Lab News

  • Welcome Mai and Adam

    The Okonkwo Lab is excited to welcome two more members to our team! Mai Seng Thao is the ADNI Scholars Project Manager for the Health Equities Scholars Program. Mai has a background in Early-Middle Childhood …

  • Ira Frahmand’s Abstract Accepted for Oral Presentation

    Ira Frahmand’s abstract “Age-related alterations in plasma biomarkers for Alzheimer’s disease are attenuated in KLOTHO KL-VS Heterozygotes” was accepted for in-person oral presentation! Congratulations, Ira! We are all so proud of you!

  • Bri Breidenbach and Noah Cook’s Abstracts Accepted for Poster Presentation

    Congratulations, Bri and Noah, on the acceptance of their abstracts for poster presentation at AD/PD in March 2024 in Lisbon, Portugal! This is phenomenal news and an amazing accomplishment. Bri Breidenbach: “Fitness level modifies the …

  • Talia Brach Accepted into The Area Health Education Centers Scholars Program

    Talia Brach was accepted into the Area Health Education Centers Scholars Program (AHEC) for the 2023-2025 Cohort! She will complete this alongside her MPH program. This scholar’s program will expand her knowledge of health challenges …

  • Dr. Ozioma Okonkwo’s Celebration of Promotion to Full Professor

    The Okonkwo Lab, family, and friends gathered to celebrate Dr. Ozioma Okonkwo’s promotion to Full Professor during an evening filled with laughter, food, music, and dancing. We are all so proud of Dr. Okonkwo and …

  • Joe Strong’s Abstract Accepted as Poster at The Gerontological Society of America (GSA) 2023 Annual Meeting

    Joe’s abstract, A Scoping Review of Social Determinants of Health in Charles Bonnet Syndrome Research, was accepted as a late breaking poster at The Gerontological Society of America (GSA) 2023 Annual Scientific Meeting, taking place …

  • Ozioma Okonkwo Served as Opponent at Anders Rydström’s PhD Dissertation Defense

    Dr. Ozioma Okonkwo served as the Opponent, and also gave an opening lecture, at Anders Rydström’s PhD dissertation defense titled, “Mental stimulation and multimodal trials to prevent cognitive impairment and Alzheimer’s disease” at Karolinska Instituet …

  • Alyssa Pandos and Hannatu Amaza Take on New Roles

    We are thrilled to have two lab members stepping into new roles in our lab: Alyssa Pandos accepted the Okonkwo Lab Assistant Program Manager position! She will be transitioning from her role as a Clinical …

  • Chinenye Odo’s Abstract Accepted for Poster Presentation at APDIM

    Chinenye Odo’s abstract “Towards Gender Equity: Evaluating Word Choices of Internal Medicine Residents in Near-Peer Evaluations.” was accepted for poster presentation at the 2023 Association of Program Directors in Internal Medicine (APDIM) Fall Conference happening …

  • Chinenye Odo’s Abstract Accepted for Presentation at Neuroscience 2023

    Chinenye Odo’s abstract “Investigating the relationship between rate pressure product and cerebrospinal fluid biomarkers of Alzheimer’s disease in cognitively unimpaired late-middle-aged adults at risk for Alzheimer’s disease” has been accepted for presentation at Neuroscience 2023 …

  • Okonkwo Lab at AAIC 2023

    The Okonkwo Lab is at AAIC 2023 in Amsterdam, The Netherlands! Ozioma Okonkwo is giving an oral presentation in a Featured Research Session: Culturally-informed Community-engaged Efforts to Improve Inclusion and Engagement of Underrepresented Ethnocultural Populations …

  • Kyle Edmunds’s Manuscript Accepted for Publication

    Kyle Edmund’s manuscript titled “Cardiorespiratory fitness attenuates the deleterious effects of sleep apnea on cerebral structure and perfusion in the Wisconsin Sleep Cohort study” has been accepted for publication in the Journal of Alzheimer’s Disease …

  • SuperAging Study Spotlighted in Wisconsin State Journal Article

    The UW-Madison site of the SuperAging study was the focus of an article recently published in the Wisconsin State Journal. Congratulations to our SuperAging team on making this article happen and a big thank you …

  • Ozioma Okonkwo Quoted in Wall Street Journal Article

    Ozioma Okonkwo was quoted in a recently published Wall Street Journal article about physical activity and longevity. Read the article here: What if the Most Powerful Way to Live Longer Is Just Exercise?

  • Monica Bruce Receives VCFA Scholarship

    Monica Bruce has received a VCFA Scholarship from UW-Madison to attend one of the Division of Continuing Studies’ Leadership & Management classes! She will participate in a 2-day course on the Fundamentals of Project Management. …

  • Gloria Morel’s Proposal Accepted for Oral Presentation

    Gloria Morel’s proposal “Culturally sensitive strategies for recruitment and retention of research participants from underrepresented groups” was accepted for an oral presentation at the 2023 American Congress of Rehabilitation Medicine Conference this Fall! Congratulations on this …

  • Eli Blum Presents Poster at Undergraduate Research Poster Symposium

    Eli Blum presented his poster “Investigating the association of cardiorespiratory fitness and amyloid-β deposition in the precuneus in a cohort enriched with risk for Alzheimer’s disease” at UW-Madison’s Bio152 Undergraduate Research Poster Symposium. Congratulations on …

  • Talia Brach Accepted into The Master of Public Health Program

    Talia Brach has been accepted into the Master of Public Health Program here at UW-Madison! We are thrilled to have Talia remain in the lab during her graduate studies. Congratulations, Talia!

  • Gabriella Mamlouk Accepted into Cellular & Molecular Pathology Graduate Program

    Gabriella Mamlouk has officially been accepted into the Cellular & Molecular Pathology Graduate Program (CMP) here at UW-Madison! We are excited to “welcome back” Gabriella to the lab. Congratulations, Gabriella!

  • Chinenye Odo Offered Travel Fellowship for International Conference

    Chinenye Odo has been offered a travel fellowship for the June 22nd, international conference on Risk and Resilience to Alzheimer’s Disease in African Americans, by the Aging & Brain Health Alliance at Rutgers University-Newark! Congratulations Chinenye on …

  • Chinenye Odo’s Abstract Accepted for Poster Presentation

    Chinenye Odo’s abstract submission titled “Towards 3.0: A 10-year update on the Health Professional Shortage Areas in Rural Wisconsin” was accepted for a poster presentation at the Wisconsin Annual Public Health Conference in May! Congratulations, Chinenye!

  • Abstracts Accepted for ADRD Research Day 2023

    Two lab members’ abstracts were accepted for poster presentation at the Alzheimer’s Disease and Related Disorders Research Day 2023 in Madison, WI: Chinenye Odo: Investigating the relationship between rate pressure product and cerebrospinal fluid biomarkers …

  • Healthy Aging Luncheon for Black Older Adults in The Community

    The Wisconsin SuperAging Study team (Lexi Nelson, Sammy Bradley, Monica Bruce, and Ozioma Okonkwo) in conjunction with Ms. Deana Wright and Ms. Jeannette Arthur from NewBridge, held a Healthy Aging luncheon for Black older adults …

  • Ozioma Okonkwo Promoted to Tenured Professor

    Ozioma Okonkwo has been promoted to Full Professor with tenure in the UW School of Medicine and Public Health!! The new rank takes effect June 18, 2023. Congratulations Ozioma on this well deserved recognition! The lab …

  • Ira Frahmand and Ozioma Okonkwo Receive NIH R01

    Ira Frahmand and Ozioma Okonkwo have received NIH funding for their R01 grant titled, “KLOTHO and Resilience to Synaptic Dysfunction in Preclinical AD.” This award will position the lab to uncover novel insights into the …

  • Gabriella Mamlouk Awarded Fellowships

    Gabriella Mamlouk was selected for two Fellowships: SciMed Graduate Research Scholars Fellowship (also known as the Advanced Opportunity Fellowship) at the University of Wisconsin-Madison for the academic year 2023-24 HABS-HD Scholars Program through the HABS-HD …

  • Sammy Bradley Accepted to Graduate School

    Sammy Bradley was accepted into the Clinical Psychology PhD programs at Marquette University and Ohio State University!! She will be attending Marquette University in Fall 2023. We are so proud – congratulations, Sammy!

  • Multiple Abstracts Accepted for Presentation at AAIC 2023

    The Okonkwo Lab will be well represented at the Alzheimer’s Association International Conference 2023 in Amsterdam, Netherlands! Six lab members’ abstracts were accepted for poster or oral presentations: Ira Frahmand: Klotho protein concentrations as a …

  • Welcome Matt and Amber

    We are thrilled to have added two more lab members to our growing team! Matt Glittenberg is a Data Scientist. He joins us from the University of Minnesota where he worked as a Data Analyst …

  • Welcome New Undergraduate Students

    The Okonkwo Lab welcomed 4 new undergraduate students this semester: Avery Rhodes, Caitlin Brommel, Eli Blum, and Sonia Shahzad. We are delighted to have them here!

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