Geropalooza
Geropalooza 2026
Tentatively scheduled for Thursday, November 12, 2026
Ad Astra Room, Health Education Building (Fifth Floor)
Geropalooza 2025
The Division of Geriatrics and the Landon Center on Aging hosted our third annual Geroscience Symposium- Geropalooza- on October 23, 2025, on the KU Medical Center campus. The event featured the keynote presentation “Osteosarcopenia: A metab-palooza between bone, muscle and fat” delivered by Gustavo Duque, MD, PhD, FRACP, FGSA, Professor of Medicine and Director of the Division of Geriatric Medicine at McGill University. Dr. Duque, an internationally accomplished and respected geriatrician and biomedical scientist, discussed his research on the mechanisms, biomarkers, and potential therapies for age-related bone loss, osteoporosis, sarcopenia, osteosarcopenia, and frailty, as well as the impact of vitamin D, exercise, protein, and nutraceuticals on bone and muscle mass.
Following the keynote, the 2025 GeroSprint Lightning Talk Competition showcased eight presenters competing for a $10,000 pilot grant:
2025 GeroSprint Competition Presenters:
- Jaime Perales-Puchalt - Feasibility of a Brief Educational Recruitment Strategy via Home-Delivered Meals
- Tyler Myroniuk - Healthy Aging in a Highly Unequal Context
- Xinyang Zhao - Wider Distribution of Expression of PRMT1 in Megakaryocytes and Platelets with Aging Causes Thrombo-inflammation and Deteriorating Tissue Damage
- Sarah Jen - Untold Stories of Aging – Revealed and Travelled: Expanding an Arts-based Intervention to Increase Impact
- Amber Watts - Mitochondrial Menopause & Its Role in Alzheimer's
- Lane Christenson - Transgenerational impacts of Spaceflight on Aging
- Amanda Szabo-Reed - Assessing Cognitive and Physiological Resilience in Older Adults Participating in a Community-Based Program
- Daniel English (on behalf of Frances M. Yang) - Resilience in Motion: A Longitudinal Study of Caregivers Using Smartwatches
At the conclusion of the competition, Amber Watts was announced as the winner, with Lane Christenson following in second place.
The symposium was co-hosted by the Landon Center on Aging and the Division of Geriatrics in the Department of Internal Medicine at the University of Kansas Medical Center, with the goal of fostering innovative and collaborative research on aging, age- related diseases, health span, and longevity. Additional support was made possible through an NIA/NIH leadership award to Dr. Troen.
Geropalooza 2024
The Division of Geriatrics and the Landon Center on Aging hosted their Geroscience Symposium, Geropalooza, on October 31, 2024, on the KU Medical Center campus. The event featured a keynote presentation by Dr. Cathleen Colon-Emeric, Professor of Medicine and Chief of the Division of Geriatrics in the Department of Medicine, Senior Fellow in the Center for the Study of Aging and Human Development, Duke University School of Medicine, “Bouncing Back: Optimizing Physical Resilience Across the Lifespan.”
The event again featured a GeroSprint “lightning talk” challenge, and attendees participated in ranked-choice voting to pick the winners. Dr. Linda D’Silva won the $10,000 pilot grant prize, and Dr. Aaron Smith won a $2,500 travel award.
In addition, Dr. Renee Rogers, winner of the 2023 inaugural GeroSprint lightning talk challenge, presented research entitled “Muscle Quantity and Quality, With and Without Exercise, Combined with Anti-Obesity Medications”.
The Landon Center on Aging and the Division of Geriatrics in the Department of Internal Medicine at the University of Kansas Medical Center were co-hosts of this symposium to support novel and collaborative studies relevant to aging, age-related diseases, healthspan, and longevity. Additional support was provided by an NIA/NIH leadership award to Dr. Troen.
2024 GeroSprint Competition Presenters:
- Maria Roche-Dean - Measuring Resilience Using Self-Report and Biomarkers in a Nationally Representative Sample of Aging Americans
- Aaron Smith - Acquisition of Delsys EMG and NeuroMap Systems to Advance Neuromuscular Health Research in Aging Populations
- Chun-Kai Huang - Leveraging Electromyography and Virtual Reality for Neuromuscular Control Assessment in Mild Cognitive Impairment
- Linda D'Silva - Steady Steps: Improving Balance and Confidence for Active Aging using an interactive exercise app
- Nancy Stewart - Singing May Reduce Air trapping in Aging Lungs with COPD
- Brian Helsel - The feasibility and enjoyment of a virtual indoor cycling experience for persons at risk for Alzheimer's disease and their care partners
- Teri Kennedy - Kansas 4M: Closing the Know-Do Gap through Implementation Science
- Hao Zhu - Targeting mitochondria to delay aging in preclinical mouse models
For more information on upcoming events, please contact Gabriela Samborski at gsamborski@kumc.edu.
Geropalooza 2023
The Landon Center on Aging hosted the inaugural Geroscience Symposium, Geropalooza, on Wednesday, November 15 on the KUMC campus. The event featured a GeroSprint “lightning talk” challenge with a $10,000 pilot grant funding prize.
Renee Rogers with the division of Physical Activity and Weight Management was the grand prize winner for her presentation “Effects of second-generation incretin hormone agonists on body composition, physical function, and strength in older adults.”
The event also included a keynote speech by Dr. Stelios Andreadis, Distinguished Professor of Chemical and Biological Engineering at the University at Buffalo, “Cellular Reprogramming for Reversing Stem Cell Aging: Implications for Vascular and Muscle Regeneration.”
The GeroSprint presentations included up to 20 slides, with the slides automatically advancing every 20 seconds. The presenters had 6 minutes and 40 seconds to make their pitch, and members of the audience voted to select the pilot grant winner.
The Landon Center on Aging and the Division of Geriatrics in the Department of Internal Medicine at the University of Kansas Medical Center were co-hosts of this symposium with the purpose of supporting novel and collaborative studies relevant to aging, age-related diseases, healthspan, and longevity.
2023 GeroSprint Challenge Participants
- Cole Bird: SINGS – Song-based Intervention for Neuromusculature in the Geriatric Swallow.
- Candice Coffey: Improving Care and Communication in Older Adults through POCUS and PSAPs.
- Olivia Eller: Repeated heat treatment to improve chronic pain, resilience, and frailty in aged mice.
- Sodiq Fakorede: Impaired Visual and Somatosensory Processing During Dual-Task Postural Control in Older Adults with Cognitive Impairments.
- Jullie Galliart & Denise Zwahlen: Retrieving moments of gratitude: An exercise for cognitive benefits for nursing home residents.
- Renee Rogers: Effects of second-generation incretin hormone agonists on body composition, physical function, and strength in older adults.