Podcast: living healthy longer
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Season 3: Episodes 38-49
Your Brain on Nature
Featuring: Dr. Sara LoTemplio
Dr. Sara LoTemplio, an assistant professor in CSU’s Human Dimensions of Natural Resources department, is here to talk about the restorative effects of nature on the brain. From indigenous teachings, to how the heart and brain respond to being outdoors, LoTemplio shares her preliminary ideas on how interactions with nature might slow cognitive decline in older adults and boost mood and attention span.
Season 3: Episode 38
Everything About Sleep
Featuring: Dr. Josiane Broussard
Dr. Josiane Broussard, an assistant professor in CSU’s Department of Health and Exercise Science and the director of the Sleep and Metabolism Lab at CSU, explains the importance of sleep and why this essential behavior is key to every process in the body. How do our sleeping patterns change with age, and what can you do to build a better sleep schedule?
Season 3: Episode 39
The Aging Heart
Featuring: Dr. Zhijie Wang
Dr. Zhijie Wang, an assistant professor in CSU’s School of Biomedical Engineering, discusses the anatomy of the heart and why the right ventricle has historically been viewed as the “forgotten chamber” in research. We also discuss tissue engineering as a therapy for heart failure and disease.
Season 3: Episode 40
Depression and Cognitive Decline
Featuring: Dr. Stephen Aichele
Dr. Stephen Aichele, a quantitative psychologist in CSU’s Department of Human Development and Family Studies, describes the relationship between depression and cognitive decline, and how data science methods can be used to determine predictors of cognitive changes. We briefly discuss the effects of air pollution and lead exposure on cognitive development, and Aichele shares what his research reveals about three key predictors of depression risk following middle age: social isolation, poor health and mobility issues.
Season 3: Episode 41
Prions and Alzheimer’s
Featuring: Dr. Candace Mathiason
Dr. Candace Mathiason, an associate professor of pathobiology in CSU’s Department of Microbiology, Immunology and Pathology, introduces us to the weird ways of prions and how they can be used as models for Alzheimer’s disease in humans. Mathiason describes her past research in retroviruses and the approach her lab is taking to develop tests that can detect Alzheimer’s earlier in the disease’s progression.
Season 3: Episode 42
Nontuberculous Infection
Featuring: Dr. Alan Schenkel and Dr. Ed Chan
About five years ago, some patients in Denver were suffering from a stubborn lung disease that, despite ongoing treatments, was not responding to antibiotics. Patients’ symptoms kept worsening, and Drs. Alan Schenkel and Ed Chan were curious.
Tune in to hear them describe NTM infection, a lung disease that is becoming more common in adults over the age of 50. What are nontuberculous mycobacteria, and what is it about certain people’s immune responses that make them more susceptible to NTM infection than others?
Season 3: Episode 43
From Virus to Virus
Featuring: Dr. Greg Ebel
Dr. Greg Ebel, a professor and director of CSU’s Center for Vector-Borne Infectious Diseases, discusses his lab’s history of surveillance and prevention strategies for arboviruses (West Nile, dengue and Zika viruses), and how that work poised his team to respond to the COVID-19 pandemic early in 2020.
Season 3: Episode 44
Muscle Strength and Alzheimer’s Risk
Featuring: Dr. Shelby Osburn
Is it possible that researchers can find signs of future cognitive decline in muscles before the brain ever shows a deficit? Shelby Osburn, a postdoctoral researcher in CSU’s Healthspan Biology Lab, thinks yes. In this episode, Osburn describes her recent proposal to examine the fascinating relationship between skeletal muscle and Alzheimer’s disease.
Season 3: Episode 45
Balance Fitness for Longer Healthspan
Featuring: Dr. Ava Segal
Dr. Ava Segal is the founder and CEO of Steadi Systems, a health-tech startup out of Golden, CO that is providing solutions for better balance health and awareness. In this episode, Segal discusses the importance of balance fitness and introduces us to Steadiplay: an engaging balance training tool she invented for her doctoral research at Colorado School of Mines.
Season 3: Episode 46
Racial and Ethnic Health Disparities
Featuring: Dr. Ronica Rooks
According to the CDC, health disparities are “preventable differences in the burden of disease…that are experienced by socially disadvantaged populations.” Dr. Ronica Rooks, a professor of health and behavioral sciences at University of Colorado-Denver, joins to discuss racial and ethnic health disparities affecting older adults. Gentrification and social determinants of health are explored, as well as Rooks’ studies on working and volunteering as strategies to stave off dementia risk.
Season 3: Episode 47
The Dog Aging Project
Featuring: Dr. Kate E. Creevy
Dr. Kate E. Creevy is a board-certified small animal veterinary internist at Texas A&M University with a primary research interest in canine longevity and healthspan. Creevy – a founder of the Dog Aging Project – shares some interesting findings about diet, cognitive function and physical activity from the first data release of 27,000 pet dogs enrolled in DAP.
Season 3: Episode 48
Challenges to Advancing Aging Research
Season 3 Finale
Today’s episode revisits every guest from season 3 of living healthy longer and their answers to the S3 standing question: Can you identify a major challenge in your field that must be overcome to see real improvements in healthspan or healthy aging research?
Season 3: Episode 49
