FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Barbara Lanz-Mateo
Company Name: Alzheimer’s Association, California Central Coast Chapter
Telephone Number: (805) 892-4259
Fax Number: (805) 892-4250
Email Address: Barbara.Lanz-Mateo@alz.org
Website address: www.alz.org/cacentralcoast
2012 Alzheimer Dementia Conference Offers Education, Research Updates
April 18, 2012, Santa Barbara — New and innovative research being developed in Alzheimer’s disease is
the subject of the opening keynote address of the 2012 Alzheimer’s Association conference, Dementia:
Current Trends & Future Directions, slated for April 18 at Montecito Country Club in Santa Barbara.
The annual, day-long conference features keynote speakers and workshop presentations in all aspects of
dementia including legal and financial issues; public policy; behaviors; caregiving; patients’ rights;
medication; and arts and creativity in the brain.
Mark Jacobson, Ph.D., licensed clinical psychologist with the Veterans Affairs Medical Center in San
Diego and assistant professor at University of California, San Diego School of Medicine, will present the
opening keynote. Jacobson, recipient of an Alzheimer’s Association research award, will describe recent
investigations into related neurodegenerative disorders (Huntington’s, Parkinson’s and others) that
could ultimately have a big impact on Alzheimer research and treatment.
New this year, conference highlights will be available via Twitter as they happen during the day. People
at the conference can participate in the Twitter conversation (#Alz2012), and the conference feed will
be available after the conference at #Alz2012.
Created especially to meet the needs of caregivers — unpaid family members and professional
caregivers —the conference is also open to anyone who wants to learn more about Alzheimer’s
and other forms of dementia. Professionals who attend are eligible for continuing education
credits.
Some of the topics being covered at the conference include what to do after receiving a diagnosis of
Alzheimer’s disease; the legal and financial considerations of dementia; medications; and patients’ rights,
among other topics. A complete list of speakers and breakout sessions is available at
www.alz.org/cacentralcoast.
The conference is 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., Wednesday, April 18 at Montecito Country Club in Santa
Barbara. Participant registration is $95 per person, if registered by 5 p.m. April 1 — $105 after 5 p.m.
April 9 — and includes breakfast and lunch.
Other presenters at the all-day conference include: Bruce L. Miller, M.D. professor of neurology at the
University of California, San Francisco and clinical director of the Memory and Aging Center at UCSF; Dr.
Lisa Hayden, clinical research psychologist at the Greater Los Angeles VA Healthcare System at West Los
Angeles; Gary A. Martin, Ph.D., licensed psychologist and a geriatrics/long-term care specialist with
Integrated Geriatric Behavioral Health Associates in Scottsdale, Ariz.; Mary C. Shea, senior deputy public
Defender at the Ventura county Public Defender’s Office, specializing in conservatorship law; Cheri L.
Elson, attorney at law in Ventura County who specializes in conservatorship law, estate planning,
probate and special needs trusts; Dr. Linda Hewett, clinical professor at University of California, San
Francisco at Fresno and co-director of the Alzheimer’s and Memory Care Center; Juan Manuel Gutierrez,
Ph.D., principal, Clinical Neuropsychological Associates of Santa Barbara and a national specialist in
clinical, forensic and organizational consultations regarding the brain; Karen Jones, executive
director/program director, long term care ombudsman services of San Luis Obispo County; Lisa Snyder,
MSW, LCSW, the clinical social worker and director of the Quality of Life Programs for the Shiley-Marcos
Alzheimer’s Disease Research Center at the University of California, San Diego., MCDB, and co-director
of the Neuroscience Research Institute; and Norman White, M.D., a consultant in geriatric psychiatry in
San Luis Obispo.
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The Alzheimer’s Association is the leading voluntary health organization in Alzheimer care, support and
research. Our mission is to eliminate Alzheimer’s disease through the advancement of research, to
provide and enhance care and support for all affected, and to reduce the risk of dementia through the
promotion of brain health. Our vision is a world without Alzheimer’s. The California Central Coast
Chapter serves San Luis Obispo, Santa Barbara, Ventura and Kern counties. alz.org/cacentralcoast
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