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[SDSA] Webinar! Feb 27 1pm EST - Note new speaker and date

  • 1.  [SDSA] Webinar! Feb 27 1pm EST - Note new speaker and date

    Posted 7 days ago

    Note: Change of date and speaker

    The American Statistical Association (ASA) Statistics and Data Science in Aging (SDSA) Interest Group is pleased to announce our next webinar!

    SDSA thanks the ASA and SDSA sponsors and donors:

    The University of Maryland Claude D. Pepper Older Americans Independence Center (UM-OAIC)

    The University of Maryland School of Medicine Center for Research on Aging

    Theresa Kim and Nathan Parrish

    Charles B. Hall

    Edward C. Hirschland

    George Rodriguez

    Ginger Holt

    Haksing E. Ip

    Mary J. Kwasny

    Robert A. Oster

    YongFang Kuo

    Click here to join SDSA!

    Want to become an SDSA sponsor? Visit GiveASA! Under "Additional Details" type "To offset costs of SDSA activities."

    Webinar details:

    Speaker: Heather Shappell, PhD, Assistant Professor, Department of Biostatistics and Data Science, Wake Forest University School of Medicine

    Title: Dynamic Brain Networks in Obesity and Weight Loss in Older Adults

    When: February 27 2025, 1-2pm ET/12-1pm CT/11am-12pm MT/10am-11am PT

    Where: Zoom; Register here -

    https://amstat.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_h4UZVD1jQsS7YV9nbL-bzw

     

    Abstract: Obesity poses a great threat to healthy aging. Older adults are vulnerable to many chronic diseases and physical disability, most of which are exacerbated by obesity. It is widely recognized that individuals vary in their energy balance and success at intentional weight loss. This individual variability is likely associated with many factors all culminating in varying abilities to modify eating behaviors necessary for successful weight loss and weight maintenance. The brain, the final common pathway for producing adaptive or maladaptive behaviors, is an essential target for studies investigating weight loss success. Functional brain networks can be used to examine how brain organization is associated with behaviors of interest and can be examining at the level of the individual person. Such information can be used to identify organizational principles that can be targeted for personalized weight loss interventions. This presentation will introduce the concept of functional brain networks including how brain network dynamics are estimated and used for predicting weight loss outcomes in older adults. Considerable work remains to be done before functional brain networks will prove clinically useful. Nevertheless, there is promise that studies examining dynamic brain network organization may help make precision treatment of obesity a reality rather than a pipedream.

    Speaker bio: Heather Shappell is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Biostatistics and Data Science at Wake Forest University School of Medicine. She is also faculty in the Laboratory for Complex Brain Networks. She completed her PhD in Biostatistics from Boston University in 2017 and completed her post-doctoral training in Biostatistics at Johns Hopkins University Bloomberg School of Public Health in 2020.  Her primary research focus is on the development of statistical methods to study functional brain networks and in applying these methods in studies of aging, obesity, and alcohol use disorder.



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    Michelle Shardell
    Program Chair, Statistics and Data Science in Aging Interest Group
    Co-Director, Biostatistics and Informatics Core, Claude D Pepper Older Americans Independence Center
    Professor
    Institute for Genome Sciences, University of Maryland School of Medicine
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