Vitality, Fall 2019

USC LEONARD DAVIS SCHOOL OF GERONTOLOGY

VOL. 10 A Magazine for All Ages FALL 2019

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Big Data & Aging

How the digital revolution powers discoveries and transforms the field

“The age of Big Data has enabled us to study and address the challenges of aging in a truly global fashion.”

Earlier this year, I had the privilege of traveling to Tokyo, Japan, in advance of the G-20 summit and taking part in a panel discussion on the world’s aging population and the issues of financial inclusion surrounding this dramatic demographic shift. Japan, which currently has the world’s oldest population — one in five residents is over 70 — was an especially appropriate venue for this conversation and for this G-20 summit, during which aging was named as a priority issue for the first time ever.

The age of Big Data has enabled us to study and address the challenges of aging in a truly global fashion, and the USC Leonard Davis School is at the forefront of capitalizing on the powerful research tools that discern important findings within the vast amounts of data from across the world. This issue’s cover story discusses how the school has not only embraced Big Data techniques for research, but has also focused on preparing our students to use these techniques in their future careers in the interdisciplinary and ever-changing field of aging.

Speaking of our students going on to work within a changing field, this issue of Vitality features three talented alumni leaders sharing their perspectives on what’s coming next for senior living. With the U.S. population aging rapidly and the Baby Boomers reaching their golden years, the needs and preferences of residents in senior living communities are changing, and the senior living industry must anticipate and respond to demands. This issue also spotlights one of our stellar student researchers: Biology of Aging PhD student Juan Bravo studies transposons — also called “jumping genes” — and how these contribute to genomic instability as they relocate to different regions within a cell’s DNA. This work has been recognized with a prestigious NSF Graduate Research Fellowship and has important implications for our understanding of what happens to the integrity of our genes as we age.

With aging becoming more of a data-driven field than ever before, faculty members at the USC Leonard Davis School have the information they need to develop evidence-based ways to address some of society’s most complex concerns, including elder abuse, and can dispel some of the most pervasive myths about aging and older adults. As Sir Francis Bacon said, knowledge is power. Harnessing data to obtain new knowledge has made the USC Leonard Davis School one of the most powerful forces for healthy aging in the world.

Pinchas Cohen, Dean

Photo: Stephanie Kleinman.

DEAN’S MESSAGE

VITALITY MAGAZINE — Chief Communications Officer Orli Belman Editor in Chief Beth Newcomb Managing Editor Natalie Avunjian Design Golden Design Studio Contributors Joanna Clay Shannon Flynn Katharine Gammon Jenesse Miller Julia Nash Constance Sommer Cover Illustration Bryan Christie

USC LEONARD DAVIS SCHOOL OF GERONTOLOGY — Dean Pinchas Cohen Executive Vice Dean Kelvin J. A. Davies Senior Associate Dean Maria L. Henke Senior Associate Dean for Advancement David Eshaghpour Associate Dean of Research Sean Curran Assistant Dean of Diversity and Inclusion Susan Enguídanos Assistant Dean of Education John Walsh Assistant Dean of Faculty and Academic Affairs Mara Mather Senior Business Officer Lali Acuna Senior Human Resources Business Partner Wendy Snaer

INSIDE

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Postcard Aging on the G-20 agenda in Tokyo

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Findings Older adults are less distracted by negative information

FEATURED —

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Design How architecture and dementia interact

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Q&A Christian Pike on sex differences in Alzheimer’s disease

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How Big Data is Reshaping Aging The digital revolution powers discoveries and transforms the field

Bravo!

Award-winning PhD student Juan Bravo studies how “jumping genes” affect aging

Alumni Dietitian helps the L.A. Chargers fuel up for the field

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Students Scenes from studyabroad adventures

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Recognition Kevin Xu receives Young Alumni Merit Award

20 24 34 Shining a Light The USC Secure Old Age Lab brings attention to the issue of elder abuse

What’s Next for Senior Living Three alumni discuss the future of communities and the industry

Fact vs. Fiction Experts reveal the truth behind widespread myths about aging and older people

FALL 2019 | 1

AWARDS

LAB SPOTLIGHT

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Jennifer Ailshire USC Mentoring Award Bérénice Benayoun Rosalind Franklin Young Investigator Award, Genetics Society of America and The Gruber Foundation Stephanie Bolton ’19 Student Leadership Award, Academy for Gerontology in Higher Education Rochelle Lai MSNHL ’19 Outstanding Dietetic Student in a Coordinated Program, California Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics

QUOTABLE —

“Ageism is prejudice against our own future selves.”

— Ashton Applewhite, activist and author of This Chair Rocks: a Manifesto Against Ageism, in a presentation at the USC Leonard Davis School on April 4, 2019.

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Associate Professor Sean Curran is a recognized leader in gerontology and recently received two prestigious awards for his outstanding influence in the field. The honors, the 2018 USC Provost’s Mentoring Award and a National Institute of Aging (NIA) K07 Academic Leadership Career Grant, acknowledge his contributions to research training and career development.

In addition to his scientific research, much of Curran’s focus is on providing a valuable experience for each of the students and trainees. His proposal for the NIA grant provides outlines not only for scientific discoveries, but also for training and mentoring so that students, postdoctoral fellows and faculty can get the most out of the opportunities USC has to advance the study of lifespan health. With Curran’s guidance, all of the students from the lab have gone on to do postdoctoral work and become mentors themselves.

Curran’s approach demonstrates that success comes from an environment of camaraderie and collaboration. The lab’s findings propel scientific research forward to help individuals maximize their lifespan, all while grooming the next generation of leaders in science. — J.N.

This Page: illustration by Natalie Avunjian; photos by Stephanie Kleinman and John Skalicky. Opposite page: Shutterstock/Mahathir Mohd Yasin.

NEWS BITES

GLOSSARY — Palliative Care Medical care that focuses on providing relief from pain and other symptoms of a serious illness.

It can be offered alongside curative care at any stage of disease.

- National Institute on Aging

POSTCARD —

Aging on the G-20 Agenda This year’s G-20 summit marked the first time that aging has been named a priority issue, and host nation Japan called on global leaders to address the policy implications of a rapidly aging world. The number of people living into their 80s and beyond is projected to reach 434 million by 2050.

On June 7, in advance of the formal summit on June 28-29, USC Leonard Davis School Dean Pinchas Cohen addressed key stakeholders as a panelist at the G-20’s Global Partnership for Financial Inclusion (GPFI) Forum on Aging and Financial Inclusion in Tokyo. Other speakers represented the World Bank, World Health Organization and various government, financial and nonprofit institutions.

Calling Alzheimer’s disease the biggest challenge related to the aging population, Cohen noted that the Alzheimer’s Association estimates that in the U.S. alone, the costs of Alzheimer’s and other dementias could exceed $1 trillion by 2050, with implications for senior housing, caregiving and drug development. He cited a USC research finding that a five-year delay in onset of the disease would lead to a 41 percent lower prevalence of the disease and a 40 percent decrease in overall societal costs.

“Issues around longevity and healthy aging are of concern to all segments of society,” Cohen said. “The GPFI Forum recognized the importance of health and well-being in advancing the goals of leading full and productive lives.” — O.B.

Hospice Care Care designed to maximize comfort and address physical, psychological, social and spiritual needs of a person who is terminally ill.

- Mayo Clinic Advance Directive Legal document providing guidance for health care choices in the event an individual can no longer make decisions.

- Merriam-Webster

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NEW PROGRAMS Introduced in 2019: MA in Senior Living Hospitality MA in Medical Gerontology Learn more at: gero.usc.edu/masters-programs

FALL 2019 | 3

NEWS BITES

KPCC AirTalk

Governor Newsom just called for a master plan for aging Donna Benton was interviewed regarding on Governor Gavin Newsom’s executive order to create a Master Plan for Aging for California.

IN THE MEDIA —

USA Today

Why your perception of “old” changes as you age Jennifer Ailshire was quoted on how our perceptions of aging change as we ourselves age.

Wall Street Journal

The fasting cure is no fad The Wall Street Journal cited research from Valter Longo on the link between fasting and cancer.

Wired RECENTLY PUBLISHED

Jean Galiana MASM ’18 Aging Well: Solutions to the Most Pressing Global Challenges of Aging

The evidence is strong: air pollution seems to cause dementia Wired highlighted research by Caleb Finch about the connection between exposure to air pollution and dementia symptoms.

Los Angeles Times

A former corn-syrup lobbyist is drafting new federal dietary rules Cary Kreutzer was quoted in a column on the involvement of food industry lobbyists in the creation of official nutrition guidelines.

CNN

Changing your meat-eating habits could mean a longer life, study suggests Valter Longo was quoted on a study that further ties red meat to a higher risk of early death.

Chicago Tribune

More seniors dying in falls: doctors could do more to reduce risk Emily Nabors was quoted on how physicians can get involved in preventing seniors from falling.

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Kiplinger

9 podcasts fit for retirees The “Lessons in Lifespan Health” podcast, produced by the USC Leonard Davis School, was named on a list of podcasts best suited for retirees.

Wall Street Journal

My wife had hearing loss. So why wouldn’t she get a hearing aid?

Paul Irving authored a column on how his wife’s concern that hearing aids might signify decline had to be balanced against the prospect of better hearing.

KPBS

Loneliness and high rent prompt California seniors to look for roommates Caroline Cicero was quoted regarding the higher risk of depression for older adults living alone.

Seattle Weekly

Overdose deaths continue to rise locally and nationally Seattle Weekly featured research by Jessica Ho on the rise in opioid overdoses in the U.S.

Kaiser Health News

The chances you’ll end up getting dementia after 65 are actually falling Kaiser Health News discussed research co-authored by Eileen Crimmins on how more education correlates to a lower risk of dementia.

Vice

We asked real dietitians if Beyoncé’s 22 Days diet plan would actually work Cary Kreutzer was quoted regarding a plantbased diet plan promoted by Beyoncé.

COMMENCEMENT —

Photo: Beth Newcomb.

Congrats to the Class of 2019!

The USC Leonard Davis School of Gerontology celebrated more than 200 graduates – the school’s largest graduating class ever – during the 2019 commencement ceremony on May 10.

Dean Pinchas Cohen remarked that he had been able to mention the distinction of largest-ever graduating class throughout his tenure as dean, and that the growth of the USC Leonard Davis School reflected the increasing recognition of the gerontology field as a whole.

“Over the last seven years, we’ve grown to a total of over 600 students in the Leonard Davis School,” Cohen said. “We’ve also increased our faculty by one-third and our classroom and laboratory space by 25 percent, and we’ve doubled our research funding from the federal government and other sources.”

Stephanie Bolton, a Bachelor of Science in Human Development and Aging graduate and president of the Student Gerontology Association, delivered the student keynote address during Friday’s ceremony and shared her gratitude for the insight and friendship of her classmates.

“Through the Student Gerontology Association and my experiences as an undergraduate, I have been constantly inspired by the passions of those around me, and we need more people out there like you,” Bolton said.

USC Leonard Davis Board of Councilors member Mei-Lee Ney also emphasized the universal importance and applicability of gerontology in a rapidly aging society.

“You have laid a foundation that gives you limitless possibilities,” she said. “You will be joining an alumni network who came before you who are changing the way the world perceives aging.” — B.N.

AWARDS — University Honors Order of Areté Karen Eliahu Order of Troy Rachel Glynn, Hanna Kiani-Shabestari, Christina Sisliyan, Brooke Tilson Discovery Scholar Prize Finalist Shyam Hassan, Christina Sisliyan Renaissance Scholar Distinction Jessica Howard, Tejaspreet Kaur, Elizabeth Shi Global Scholar Prize Winner Hanna Kiani-Shabestari USC Leonard Davis School Honors

“You have laid a foundation that gives you limitless possibilities.

You will be joining an alumni network who came before you who are changing the way the world perceives aging.”

— Mei-Lee Ney, member of the USC Leonard Davis School of Gerontology Board of Councilors and benefactor

Undergraduate Student Award Nikita Shirsat Master’s Student Award Rochelle Lai Doctoral Student Award Debora Hoe, Kylie Meyer Faculty Teaching Award Paul Nash Heinz Osterburg Prize Yuan Zhang

200% Growth in USC Leonard Davis student body size since 2012

FALL 2019 | 5

NEWS BITES FINDINGS —

Cancer Drug Shortages Result in Almost No Treatment Changes

Nursing Home Doctors Order Fewer Prescriptions Physicians employed full time at a nursing home order significantly fewer prescriptions compared to physicians who practice in the community, according to a study co-authored by USC Leonard Davis School Professor Edward Schneider.

The study, which appeared in The Senior Care Pharmacist, followed more than 100 residents of the Los Angeles Jewish Home and also found that patients of the in-house staff physicians had fewer hospitalizations than patients of outside providers. — B.N.

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Negative Information is Less Distracting to Older Adults Compared to younger adults, older adults are less distracted by negative information, even in the earliest stages of attention.

In a study published in Emotion, USC Leonard Davis researchers looked at “emotion-induced blindness,” which refers to distractions caused by emotionally arousing stimuli. In four experiments using a quickly presented sequence of images, they examined how older adults prioritize emotional information. They found that both younger and older adults demonstrated emotion-induced blindness, but that older adults were more distracted by positive information and less distracted by negative information.

“What makes our new findings striking is that we found evidence of the positivity effect at such an early attentional level,” said lead author Briana Kennedy, postdoctoral scholar in the USC Emotion & Cognition Lab. — J.M.

This page: Shutterstock/pathdoc. Opposite page: John Skalicky.

For the vast majority of cancer drugs experiencing shortages over a seven-year period, a USC research study published in Clinical Pharmacology & Therapeutics found no statistically significant effect of shortages on chemotherapy treatment.

“These findings are surprising in light of the substantial media and policy attention that the cancer drug shortage problem has garnered,” said Mireille Jacobson, study co-author and associate professor of gerontology at the USC Leonard Davis School of Gerontology and the Schaeffer Center for Health Policy & Economics. — J.M.

NEW DIRECTIONS —

Faculty Earn Prestigious Pilot Project Funding Hanson-Thorell Family Research Scholarship Assistant Professor Reginald Tucker-Seeley, holder of the Edward L. Schneider Chair in Gerontology, will use the research award to investigate the potential links between experiencing financial hardship and increased markers of inflammation among participants in the Midlife in the U.S. (MIDUS) longitudinal study. Financial hardship takes into account not only the material resources that someone has access to, but also the psychological and behavioral responses of the individual experiencing the hardship.

“Brainbow” technology, originally developed to track neurons and understand brain architecture, could illuminate what happens within cells during aging, said Assistant Professor Marc Vermulst. He will use color-coding technology to be able to see whether fluorescent proteins are found in different proportions of mitochondria within cells. Vermulst will investigate mitochondrial movement and placement in a translucent worm in which mitochondria can be observed in real time.

Navigage Foundation Mireille Jacobson, an economist and associate professor of gerontology, is examining which Medicare patients receive cognitive screenings during annual wellness exams, along with Julie M. Zissimopoulos, associate professor at the USC Price School of Public Policy. Encouraging doctors to conduct wellness screenings could increase earlier diagnosis and treatment of reversible memory issues, Jacobson said.

Navigage’s grant to Bérénice Benayoun, assistant professor of gerontology, supports her investigation into transposable elements, or “jumping genes,” within the genome and their potential role in aging itself. Using the short-lived African turquoise killifish as an animal model, Benayoun examines how these genes may play a role in age-related decline as they become more activated over time.

Rose Hills Foundation Innovator Grant Program Research Fellowship Another of Benayoun’s projects is supported by the Rose Hills Foundation Innovator Grant Program Research Fellowship. The project employs a mouse model to examine how sex hormones influence the immune system, which may in turn play an important role in numerous health disparities between males and females. — B.N.

“This work will lay the necessary groundwork to investigate new interventions that may slow agerelated functional decline.”

–Bérénice Benayoun, assistant professor of gerontology

FALL 2019 | 7

NEWS BITES

DESIGN —

“The more we can have environments that help us minimize pharmacological interventions, [the more we can see greater] overall health care savings.”

— Donna Benton, research associate professor of gerontology and director of the USC Family Caregiver Support Center

The moment USC Assistant Professor of Architecture Kyle Konis got into the field, he was taught the importance of natural light.

Research shows that people who work in spaces with daylight exposure are more content and productive, he said. The opposite has been shown for people without much exposure to daylight: For example, studies show night shift workers are more prone to obesity and Type 2 diabetes.

It seemed like a logical next step to think about groups of people who might be hardest hit by “poorly functioning indoor environments,” he said — for instance, adults who live in institutionalized settings.

That’s how he came up with his pilot study, which looked at the impacts of daylighting on aging adults with dementia and Alzheimer’s.

Looking at roughly 80 participants across eight dementia communities in Los Angeles and Orange counties, the study showed that early morning exposure to natural light improved the mood of residents, reducing depression and psychoactive symptoms, which are common side effects of the neurodegenerative diseases.

Designing for dementia: fewer drugs, more benefits Konis’ work is part of an international push to seek non-medical interventions for this population — currently numbering nearly 6 million in the U.S. — which research shows can often be overmedicated and understimulated. Those with early stage Alzheimer’s and dementia are often put on cholinesterase inhibitors, which can delay memory, learning and language symptoms. But often the disease

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Illustration: iStock/retrorocket.

For Alzheimer’s and Dementia Patients, Thoughtful Design Can Have Big Impact

comes with other conditions, such as depression, agitation and difficulty sleeping. Not enough exposure to daylight, especially in the morning hours, can throw our bodies off in ways similar to jet lag, leaving us sluggish and moody. With these populations, it is often dealt with by prescribing more drugs and thus potentially adversely affecting quality of life.

One-third of adults over age 60 report being on five or more medications, according to the National Center for Health Statistics.

The more drugs an elderly person is on, the more prone they are to adverse reactions and, in turn, increased rates of hospitalization and mortality.

“We know that a lot of medications for behavior lead to issues of falling and sedation,” said Donna Benton, research associate professor at the USC Leonard Davis School. “The more we can have environments that help us minimize pharmacological interventions, [the more we can see greater] overall health care savings.”

Change environments, improve care Hogeweyk is a village-like community in the Netherlands for people with dementia. Residents live in houses designed according to their prior lifestyle, walk in the gardens and shop at the grocery store using special currency. Similarly, the Green House Project in the U.S. has communities across the country, including one in nearby Pomona. The Green House communities mimic the feeling of home and the look of a residential neighborhood. Its “elders” — not “patients” — can have pets and set their own mealtimes. A study showed its residents had better health outcomes and functioned better on a daily basis than their peers in standard nursing homes.

“This is a disease or problem that’s been almost totally focused on pharmaceutical cures. There are lots of other things we can do to make a difference,” said Victor Regnier, a professor of gerontology and architecture at USC. “If you can create a setting that’s more normalized — less rules and more improvisational attitudes — it’s just better.”

While there isn’t abundant research on it, Regnier believes giving residents a sense of purpose and a lifestyle reminiscent of their more independent pasts is likely beneficial. Research shows that exercise, intellectual stimulation and socializing do improve quality of life. The opposite also proves to be true: If people are understimulated — either by social isolation, lack of activity or bland food — cognitive decline can speed up. — J.C.

QUOTABLE —

“Everyone has the goal of survival, but most people are trying to do better than just survive, despite or even because of life challenges.

I want to see who is succeeding at doing better, and for longer, in terms of their emotional and cognitive health. And I want to find out how they are doing it.”

— Thalida “Em” Arpawong, research assistant professor of gerontology and member of the USC Resilience Lab, which investigates how individuals succeed at life despite significant adversity, in a July 2019 USC News article.

FALL 2019 | 9

VITAL SIGNS

Lessons in Lifespan Heath: Three Insights from Our Experts

“Be careful, because fasting-based interventions can be very powerful or very damaging.”

— Valter Longo, Edna M. Jones Professor of Gerontology and director of the USC Longevity Institute

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Editor’s note: Have you heard? We started a podcast. “Lessons in Lifespan Health” features the science — and scientists — improving how we live and age. Tune in for great insights and advice from our experts.

Here are some highlights from our first season.

EVEN MUMMIES HAD HEART DISEASE. “The oldest individual may be the Tyrolean iceman — Ötzi as he’s called — who is [from] 3000 B.C., in the Copper Age. And both of his carotid arteries were calcified.

He died because of a wound from a weapon.

But, I think it’s a conclusion that’s fairly robust that at least in the last 10,000 years in the Neolithic era, people have had some level of atherosclerosis, although it may not have been a major cause of death or disability.”

— University Professor Caleb Finch

YOUR MOOD MATTERS. “I think when we first started studying these things, we didn’t realize how important the mind-body connection was. There’s just no sort of not paying attention now to things like depression, loneliness, stress — all these kinds of what you might call mental challenges. They affect your body, and the mind-body connection is quite strong. So the signals from adverse mental/psychological states are strong to certain parts of the physiology of an aging person.”

— University Professor Eileen Crimmins KNOW YOUR FAST FACTS. “I always say that fasting doesn’t really mean anything. [Saying] fasting is like saying eating. … If you say, ‘Is eating good for you?’ Well, yes and no. It can be very good or very bad. It depends what you eat.

And fasting is the same way. It can be very good or very bad, depending on what you

This page: iStock/LysenkoAlexander. Opposite page: John Skalicky.

by Orli Belman

do, how long you do it for, who you are, etc. So…pay attention, be careful, because fasting-based interventions can be very powerful or very damaging.”

— Professor Valter Longo BE AWARE OF GENDER DIFFERENCES IN AGING “[A] lot of the drug development and health work has been done strictly on men. … NIH has created a program, called the Intervention Testing Program (ITP), where they wanted to create a standardized and robust way of testing drugs and interventions to see the impact on aging. …They have three independent sites, and they look at females and males. I think one of the biggest surprises and results coming out of the ITP has been that there’s pretty much no intervention that works the same in both sexes. Either they work much better in one sex [or] the other. … We need to take into account the fact that females and males are different.”

— Assistant Professor Bérénice Benayoun Interview highlights have been edited and condensed for clarity.

“Lessons in Lifespan Health” is available on your favorite podcast platform or directly from our website: lifespanhealth.usc.edu

Of the more than 5 million Americans living with Alzheimer’s disease, nearly two out of three are women. Professor Christian Pike speaks about his research on sex differences in the disease and how it can help inform how we might one day prevent and treat it.

Q: What are you working on now?

A: Main areas of interest in my laboratory are understanding how APOE4, a known genetic risk factor for Alzheimer’s disease, is affecting disease risk, and comparing outcomes between males and females to give us insight into why APOE4 risk affects women more than men. We think this information can help us develop strategies to minimize APOE4 risk.

Q: Are there any promising strategies you can tell us about?

A: In terms of treatment, researchers have been starting clinical trials of Alzheimer’s drugs when patients already have early-stage disease. Almost all of these trials have failed. I think we need to begin treatments on high-risk individuals when they are in their forties or fifties, because we have evidence that the underlying pathology starts a couple of decades before the clinical manifestation.

Q: You are also looking at early—even embryonic—development. Why? A: During development, as the body begins to develop into a male versus a female, the brain also becomes more male-like or more female-like.

One of the key areas we are studying is whether sex differences in the risk for Alzheimer’s disease may be related to these early brain changes. Our initial data in both human and mouse studies are revealing some really cool findings.

FALL 2018 | 11

NEWS BITES

ALUMNI —

“Food and nutrition is so personal. What tastes good to you doesn’t necessarily taste good to someone else.”

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Erica Capellino wants only the finest food, wherever she goes. She tracked down the best clam chowder in Boston, the highest-quality barbeque in Kansas City. But not for herself—for the Los Angeles Chargers football team.

At 26 years old, Capellino is the team’s first-ever full-time dietician and one of less than two dozen in the entire NFL. Thanks to her, meals and snacks and drinks for the players are not simply food — they are fuel for bodies that require optimum performance. Take, for instance, that KC barbeque: Capellino directed that the chicken wings be baked, not deep-fried, and she searched out local sauces that weren’t loaded with high-fructose corn syrup.

“I had to make sure the nutritional density was there,” says Capellino, who completed her bachelor’s in human biology at USC and her master’s at the USC Leonard Davis School of Gerontology.

As team dietician, Capellino has a work schedule that rivals that of the players for intensity and outdoes them in sheer hours. She rises during the season at 3:30 a.m. so she’ll have time for her own meal and workout before she heads over to the players’ breakfast at 6 a.m. From then until sometimes as late as midnight, seven days a week in-season, she oversees breakfast, lunch and dinner for the team; makes sure the players have adequate snacks (or “fuel”) before, during and after workouts; and monitors the players’ hydration. She also works to avoid any snafus, like the time she asked a hotel kitchen for peanut butter and jelly sandwiches for lunch, and the staff made two types of sandwiches: a peanut butter sandwich, and a jelly one.

Photo: Mike Nowak.

Fueling Up for the Field

RECIPE CARD —

Erica Capellino’s Higher-Calorie Recovery Smoothie And always, always she makes sure the players have choices, like an array of food and smoothie items at breakfast, or half a dozen protein bars at the ready during workouts.

“Food and nutrition is so personal,” she says. “What tastes good to you doesn’t necessarily taste good to someone else.”

One reason she’s been able to gain the players’ trust, she says, is because she, too, is an athlete — Capellino ran cross-country and track for the Trojans as an undergraduate. It was there, in the athletics department in 2012, that she ran into Becci Twombley, who had just arrived at USC to launch the school’s sports nutrition department. Capellino was immediately captivated by Twombley’s work.

“Being an athlete, I was always trying to find ways to better myself,” she says. “Anything I could do to gain a competitive advantage was interesting to me.”

She volunteered to help the dietician, and she ended up working with her for five years while an undergraduate and then again while pursuing a master of science in Nutrition, Healthspan and Longevity. One of her favorite classes in her master’s program, on the interplay between genetics and health, informs her work in nutrition today.

“I made that one of my core values: to optimize the athlete’s genetics and potential as much as I can, and make things as individualized and personalized as I can,” she says.

She does have a few rules, though, for athletes as well as ordinary people: half of your plate should be fruits and vegetables, one-quarter should be carbohydrates, and the remaining quarter should be protein. Also, after a workout, she recommends chocolate milk.

“The carb-to-protein ratio is 3-to-1,” she says. “Chocolate milk after a workout is one of the best foods you can use.” — C.S.

BLEND TOGETHER: ½ cup nonfat Greek yogurt 1 ½ cups low-fat chocolate milk 1 ½ frozen medium banana ½ Tbsp peanut butter Handful of spinach

500 calories, 90 g carbs, 30 g protein; contains lactose

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By Katharine Gammon

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Illustrations by Bryan Christie

IS RESHAPING AGING

HOW

Large amounts of data are powering new discoveries and transforming the field of gerontology — including the tools students need in the 21st century.

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he age of big data is here: The world has created more data in the past two years than in the entire previous history of the human race. USC Leonard Davis School of Gerontology researchers are dissecting treasure troves of information — from sources as diverse as brain scans and the human genome — to fuel groundbreaking research on improving how we age, and to reshape gerontology education to enable future scientists to make an impact in a changing field.

Gerontology is ready to take on the newest tools — in part because the field has always involved big data sets, says Mireille Jacobson, a microeconomist and associate professor of gerontology at the USC Leonard Davis School. For example, her work has relied on large population data sets – and in a way, that hasn’t changed, she says. “It’s mostly that more and more data is available.”

FALL 2019 | 15

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Big data has changed the way that people collaborate — “There are many more large multidisciplinary groups where everybody has one specialization and nobody knows it all.”

Jacobson works with data from Medicare and other publicly available databases to understand how health insurance affects the well-being of older people. For example, an analysis of Medicare data found that receiving Medicare benefits can help reduce financial stress in people over 65. She also researches health care providers and how they make care decisions in response to various outside factors, including new screening recommendations and drug shortages.

“The effort to digitize and make everything available electronically is a new thing,” she adds.

Jacobson is part of a group of gerontology researchers at the USC Leonard Davis School who are diving into vast sets of data in order to better understand aging and the lifespan. Their work has important implications for training students and for creating better datasets, which can help researchers better understand individual risk factors, identify the role of genes in disease and develop more precise interventions.

Moving Across Disciplines T. Em Arpawong, research assistant professor of gerontology and director of the Gerontology Bioinformatics Core, looks to bring together diverse information to better understand how genetic and environmental components interact to result in different health outcomes in older adults. Her current work integrates the use of both genomewide and twin and family modeling approaches from large datasets representing hundreds of thousands of individuals over many decades, such as the U.S. Health and Retirement Study and the Project Talent Aging Study, both of which span decades of follow-up with tens of thousands of participants.

Arpawong says studying aging is unique in the field of health research because there is so much that happens early in life that impacts a person’s trajectory later.

“I take a lifespan developmental approach to study effects of earlier life conditions on later-life health, including genetics, behaviors and contextual factors such as socioeconomic status and family adversity,” she says,

“and this requires putting together a lot of data pieces.”

Working on projects like creating an index of frailty, developing a genomewide scan for depressive symptomology in older adults, calculating how genetic and environmental factors contribute to aging-related cognitive changes and assessing the stability of MRI markers for dementia takes a lot of skills in different areas – and collaboration. There’s an extra layer of complexity when researchers have to translate findings from animal studies of genetic markers to humans.

“The focus of my work with the Bioinformatics Core is the translation, or collaborating with people on the translation, of their findings from model systems such as mice into human population data,” says Arpawong.

It’s a bit of a circular process: Often, the researchers use data from humans to look at the impact of the findings from the animal model systems. Once they find some things in human data, they circle back and run those experiments in the animal models to see whether there are some causal mechanisms. This data-driven exploration opens up many new ways to understand aging, because it’s not possible to do these types of translational and integrative gerontology studies solely in humans, given our long lifespans and vastly different living environments. “[This translation] has become a bigger part of the work here in Gerontology that’s been fascinating and is helping to accelerate the pace of research findings across disciplines that have traditionally functioned more independently,” Arpawong says.

The work has become naturally collaborative, involving many different investigators with diverse backgrounds.

“There’s a lot of crossover in different departments and multiple benefits of working with folks from the Dornsife College, Keck School of Medicine and the Information Sciences Institute, including from psychology to computational biology,” explains Arpawong. “It really is a tangled web all over USC. It just points to the whole transdisciplinary nature of this work. You need to be talking with and working with a lot of people to make sure that you’re moving in the right direction.”

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Arpawong recently used diverse datasets to find the connection between genetics and verbal memory.

She found that a genetic marker of Alzheimer’s disease wasn’t alone – there is a second gene that plays a role specifically in effects on aging-related memory ability.

Big data has also changed the way that people collaborate, says Eileen Crimmins, USC University Professor and AARP Professor of Gerontology. No single researcher can know all the parts of a project, she explains.

“There are many more large multidisciplinary groups where everybody has one specialization and nobody knows it all,” she says. “So there’s a lot more of trusting people that they do know it and they can do it right.”

All that data requires newer solutions to housing and transferring it, especially when working with different researchers around the globe.

“The scale is much bigger in what we have to deal with and [in] the frequency and the need for transferring these things, maintaining data security, and then having the tools available to do this,” says Arpawong.

“A lot of the data analysis that we need to do requires coding in different programming languages that some of the more common statistical software doesn’t have the capacity for, and housing the data in ways that go beyond one’s own hard drive.”

Education also has to match the newest developments in big data science, requiring students to be coding proficient, data driven and able to ask new questions about the science of aging. Big data has changed the game for graduate students, says Crimmins, who directs the Multidisciplinary Research Training in Gerontology Program at the USC Leonard Davis School. The program helps predoctoral and postdoctoral students become familiar with the study of aging across multiple disciplines.

“There’s a lot more multidisciplinary activity because the questions really have moved,” Crimmins explains.

Today’s students are constantly gaining new skill sets and knowledge, from the pathology of air pollution to genetics, in addition to their foundational studies in gerontology. A lot of what people are doing is learning on the job to gain the skills that aren’t taught in the classroom, Arpawong adds.

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For students entering the field, understanding statistics and having a strong grasp of numeracy is crucial. In her class, Jacobson presents some “weird data” — for example, why the average of a dataset might be way higher than the median.

“If you think about average income in the U.S. as opposed to median, that might tell us something about Americans overall,” she says. “In some sense, the big data that’s available should force us to go back to basics and see the foundations.”

Coding competency is also at the core of the tools new researchers use in the field — and sometimes that requires coding in multiple languages.

Adjusting for the Future The availability and types of data will only increase in the future, and researchers are thinking of how to adjust their studies to make room for new information. Crimmins is a co-investigator for the Health and Retirement Study, which has been going on for about 30 years. The study is conducted every two years, half in person and half on the phone. Since 2006, the researchers have collected biomarkers from people they visit in person – metrics such as weight and height, blood pressure and a blood sample.

Those metrics will allow the researchers to make bigger associations in the existing data — and they also dwarf the other data in the analysis. “Two million markers for each person, and we have 20,000 people in the study,” Crimmins says. “It really requires high-capacity computing.”

Using data from the Health and Retirement Study, Crimmins has made several surprising findings. One is that people are actually having more years of good brain health after the age of 65 than was the case in the past.

Another study of the data found that education gives people an edge in their later years, helping them to keep dementia at bay and their memories intact. Collecting biomarkers from study participants also enabled USC Leonard Davis alumna Morgan Levine ’08, PhD ’15 and

Crimmins to develop a promising method to measure biological, as opposed to chronological, age. Their work resulted in findings showing that Americans may be aging more slowly than they were two decades ago.

USC has emerged as a data-producing university.

A lot of work goes into encouraging the use of data by making them available and in a usable format, Crimmins says. It makes up a large part of what she does: doing service for the larger field.

“It’s kind of expected in our field for those of us who are data producers, which is a big thing here at USC because we do produce a lot of the international datasets,” she says.

Big data is breaking down traditional boundaries between fields, says Arpawong. The strongest outcomes will likely come from a mishmash of different data types — for example, medical billing and imaging, or genomics and environmental data.

“You need to break it down into pieces. You need people who know how to manipulate the data to get what you want — and it’s very nuanced for each piece,” she says. “You can get results any which way you can code something, but is it correct? And a big issue for bioinformatics is making sure people are trained in these types of data resources to make sure that they’re doing what they aim to do.”

USC Leonard Davis School Dean Pinchas Cohen agrees that in today’s modern research environment, leveraging data from a variety of sources is as important as understanding cellular functions. In his own lab, he is leading big data–driven studies to identify previously unknown mitochondrial genes, working to understand their functions and whether they can be targets for treatments for Alzheimer’s, diabetes and other diseases.

“Instead of a one-size-fits-all mindset, the age of big data allows us to have a 21st-century approach to address disease risk and promote healthy aging with a deep understanding of an individual’s risk factors,” Cohen says. “Science is no longer about looking into a microscope in one’s own lab; it’s about looking outward to data from millions of people across the world.”

Bioinformatics: A Big Part of Big Data Bioinformatics is an interdisciplinary science that brings together approaches from biology, genomics, biostatistics, computer science, mathematics, medicine and health. Bioinformatics involves the application of computing tools to biological data to make the data understandable.

The Gerontology Bioinformatics Core, directed

by Research Assistant Professor T. Em Arpawong, serves as a resource for bioinformatics consulting and data analysis solutions at the USC Leonard Davis School. The core provides several services to faculty, staff and students:

1.

Integration of tools and resources for storing, organizing, analyzing, visualizing and interpreting data

2.

Grant development

3.

Educational seminars and workshops

4.

Project consulting

5.

Manuscript support

6.

Genetic association analysis

7.

Support for next-generation sequencing data procurement and analysis

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A former manager of the late Marvel Comics creator Stan Lee recently appeared in a Los Angeles courtroom and pled not guilty to multiple counts of elder abuse, including charges that in the last year of Lee’s life, he held the older man against his will and stole from him. That court appearance made national news, but celebrities are far from the only people affected by elder abuse. As this high-profile case winds its way through the legal system, it is bringing attention to an issue that is all too common and often misunderstood.

By Orli Belman Illustration by Natalie Avunjian

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O

ne in six older adults worldwide is believed to be a victim of some form of elder abuse, according to a recent World Health Organization (WHO) study.

The research, led by Yongjie Yon PhD ’17 and conducted as part of his doctoral dissertation, defined the mistreatment as falling into several categories: psychological, financial, neglect, physical and sexual. It also found that contrary to public perception, men — like Lee — are just as vulnerable as women.

The impact is real: According to a WHO fact sheet, abuse victims tracked over 13 years were twice as likely to die during that time compared to those who had not reported abuse. In addition, the WHO notes that elder abuse injuries in the U.S. result in medical costs of over $5 billion each year.

“There is growing interest in elder abuse, now that we know it is high prevalence,” says Kate Wilber, professor at the USC Leonard Davis School of Gerontology and co-director of the National Center on Elder Abuse, which is housed at the Keck School of Some older adults may be Medicine of USC. “Peoreluctant to acknowledge ple are finally noticing that they are victims because that this is a problem.”

If they are indeed of embarrassment, fear of noticing, it has much being taken from their homes, to do with Wilber and loyalty to family members and her work. Her Secure a mistrust of authority figures.

Old Age Lab at the USC Leonard Davis School has been a leader in elder abuse research for more than 30 years. Along with current and former students and campus and health care collaborators, Wilber is working to increase awareness of, and develop evidence-based interventions for, this very complex issue.

Uncovering Abuse Despite data showing high rates of abuse occurring in homes, assisted living facilities, nursing homes and other community settings, only a small number of the estimated 5 million annual cases of elder abuse in the United States are reported.

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“Some older adults may be reluctant to acknowledge that they are victims because of embarrassment, fear of being taken from their homes, loyalty to family members and a mistrust of authority figures,” says Wilber.

Knowing that people with lower incomes, education and levels of English language ability are even less likely to come forward, Wilber and her team set out to improve the identification of elder mistreatment in low-income, Latino immigrant communities, a population they knew to be understudied.

With a grant from the National Institute on Aging, they recruited and trained promotores — local Spanish-speaking Latinos who are trained to provide basic health education in their communities — to interview a sample of these older residents. The results of this approach, published in a 2012 study, yielded higher reporting rates than had previous studies, with 40% of those questioned saying they had experienced some form of abuse or neglect in the previous year.

“Using promotores for elder abuse research had not been done before,” says Zach Gassoumis PhD ’14, an assistant professor of family medicine and geriatrics at the Keck School of Medicine of USC, with a joint appointment at the USC Leonard Davis School.

“We believe we were successful in part because the participants could better relate to and confide in fellow community members versus outside interviewers.”

Building Relationships The idea of taking older adults’ perspectives into account continues today in Wilber’s work, and it can also be seen in the application of additional innovative approaches to addressing elder abuse.

USC launched the nation’s second Elder Abuse Forensic Center, a collaboration among the USC Leonard Davis School, the Keck School, Adult Protective Services, the Los Angeles County District Attorney, and a number of additional county agencies. The Los Angeles County Elder Abuse Forensic Center brings together people with different

types of expertise to discuss complicated cases and develop a plan of action.

The model seems to be working: A USC Leonard Davis School evaluation found that this multidisciplinary approach dramatically increased the number of referrals for prosecution and conservatorship when compared with usual care.

With support from the Archstone Foundation, Wilber and her Keck School collaborator Associate Professor Diana Homeier, who holds a joint appointment at the USC Leonard Davis School, designed a pilot program to introduce a service advocate — someone who can represent victims’ needs and desires — to the Forensic Center team.

“Well-intended elder abuse interventions can sometimes seem paternalistic,” says Wilber. “We need to understand how to provide approaches that address the abuse but also involve the older adult in the process.”

Wilber’s postdoctoral scholar Julia Rowan PhD ’19 is currently evaluating this person-centered approach, which considers the older adult’s preferences, even if those include the older person’s staying in the same home as the alleged abuser.

“There is a tension between autonomy and safety in elder abuse casework,” says Rowan. “But we’ve found that it is possible to reduce risk if you focus first on what the person wants, even if it doesn’t initially seem related to the abuse.”

Looking Ahead Moving forward, the Secure Old Age Lab continues to be part of efforts to improve elder abuse practices and processes. New and ongoing projects are looking at the big picture of elder abuse across the nation and also aiming to provide assistance at the individual level. Inevitably, another headline will serve as a reminder that elder abuse is an ongoing problem. But the lab’s pipeline of research findings and intervention innovations can help to raise awareness of the issue, reduce its occurrence and improve how it is addressed.

The National Center on Elder Abuse (NCEA) is based at USC and is co-directed by USC Leonard Davis School professor Kate Wilber and Laura Mosqueda, dean of the Keck School of Medicine of USC and professor of family medicine, geriatrics and gerontology. The NCEA encourages everyone to learn the types of mistreatment that constitute elder abuse and also to learn what they can do to reduce abuse:

Types of Elder Abuse Physical Abuse. Use of force to threaten or physically injure an older person Emotional Abuse. Verbal attacks, threats, rejection, isolation or belittling acts that cause or could cause mental anguish, pain or distress to an older person Sexual Abuse. Sexual contact with an older person, including anyone who is unable to grant consent, that is forced, tricked, threatened or otherwise coerced Exploitation. Theft, fraud, misuse or neglect of authority, and use of undue influence as a lever to gain control over an older person’s money or property Neglect. Failure or refusal to provide for an older person’s safety, physical needs or emotional needs

Ways to Help Prevent Elder Abuse Prevent isolation by calling or visiting older loved ones and asking how they are doing on a regular basis.

Talk to friends and family members about how we can all age well and reduce abuse with programs and services like law enforcement, community centers and public transportation.

Sign up to be a friendly visitor to an older person in the community.

Send a letter to a local paper, radio or TV station suggesting that they cover World Elder Abuse Awareness Day ( June 15) or Grandparents Day in September.

For more information on elder abuse prevention, visit the NCEA website at ncea.acl.gov or call (855) 500-3537.

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What’s Next for Senior Living

USC Leonard Davis alumni discuss upcoming trends and challenges for their communities and the industry. By Constance Sommer • Photography by Dario Griffin

Los Angeles Jewish Home resident Lorraine Beckenstein and Larissa Stepanians MS ’01

A morphing health care landscape, an upcoming surge of clientele as the baby boomers ease into their golden years, and tight labor and housing markets – these are among the challenges and trends impacting today’s senior living communities, according to USC Leonard Davis School of gerontology alumni running major institutions in the Los Angeles area.

“It’s an exciting time, because as an industry we are open to new ideas,” says Shaun Rushforth MS ’08, executive director of Kingsley Manor Retirement Community in Los Angeles. “We’re going to have to be innovative to stay relevant.”

Today’s senior living market is marked by two extremes, says Sahar Edalati MS ’13, executive director of Sunrise Villa Culver City in Los Angeles. On the one hand, many seniors want to stay in their homes as long as possible. They arrive at facilities more frail and in need of more support. On the other hand, there is the coming influx of baby boomers, who are looking for communities reflective of their more active lifestyles. “It’s a fragmented market,” Edalati says – one that a facility must somehow bridge in order to be successful.

The senior living business is all about aging well, and as a mature field, that’s what is required of it now, says Larissa Stepanians MS ’01, chief operating officer of the Los Angeles Jewish Home in Reseda, Calif. “In our industry, we know how to pivot.”

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“I ask my team every day, ‘What are we offering to create a culture that is engaging, that coaches, grooms and inspires people?’” — Sahar Edalati

Sunrise Villa resident Barbara Hirsch and Sahar Edalati MS ’13

This has been critical lately, thanks to an ever-shifting health care insurance landscape. “The changes that have occurred in the last few years have been dramatic and sweeping,” Rushforth says. “What we’re learning is that just because we have this model in our country doesn’t mean we can’t change the model.”

A pressing example is the coming change in how Medicare reimburses skilled nursing homes for patient care. Currently, facilities bill for services provided. Starting in October, they will be paid based on the quality of patient outcomes. “We need to make sure when a resident is admitted we have coded their diagnosis correctly, because that’s going to change the way we are reimbursed,” Rushforth says.

“It will have a real bottom line-impact if you get it wrong.”

However, as of late spring, the federal government had not yet issued new guidelines, leaving executives like Stepanians to plan for big change with incomplete information. Previously, she says, the reimbursement model encouraged short-term care with a quick turnaround. But the new model, by measuring outcomes, will also require a systemwide coordination of care and data collection. “Our paradigm is changing,” she says. “We, as an organization, have to prepare and say, ‘OK, how are we all working together?’”

The skilled nursing reimbursement shift is only one example of the flexibility and creative thinking required to run a successful senior living institution today, according to the alumni. The facilities are also looking ahead to the near future, when the current generation of seniors will be replaced by the larger baby boom cohort. The trend for years has been to provide more individuality of care, and that’s only going to increase with the baby boomers, Rushforth says.

“When I got here in 2005, there were seniors who had been through the Depression and the [World War II] years,” he notes. Frugality had a high value for these residents, who didn’t mind living in dormitory-like conditions if it meant they saved money. It was also a group, Rushforth recalled, who did not mind being told what to do: the doctor’s word was law, and everyone had assigned seating at dinner.

Today’s seniors expect more homelike accommodations. They may challenge what their physicians tell them. When it comes to food, they may want to eat on their own schedule. As a younger generation moves into Kingsley, Rushforth has noticed a change in opinions about dining room seating. He has been informally polling the residents and has found them evenly split: half want to sit in their assigned seats every day, but the other half prefer the freedom to choose their dinner companions nightly. He says he expects that in another 10 years, the majority of residents may reject assigned seating. “There are generational differences [due to] different upbringings,” he says. “What appeals to one generation doesn’t appeal to the next.”

Another challenge, in a time marked by low unemployment, is a labor shortage. “We’re starting to compete with fast-food places and retailers and restaurants,” Edalati said. “It’s driving up wages and creating turnover costs.”

Some industries can charge more for their products, but many seniors are on fixed incomes. The last thing a facility wants to do is

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“There are generational differences [due to] different upbringings.

What appeals to one generation doesn’t appeal to the next.” — Shaun Rushforth

Kingsley Manor resident Conny Van Dyke and Shaun Rushforth MS ’08

price a resident out, Rushforth says: “Keeping up with the costs as the labor expenses increase is a huge challenge right now.” At Kingsley Manor, staff has looked at ways to run the place more efficiently, ways to utilize technology to lower costs – anywhere, Rushforth says, that “you can sharpen the pencil.”

For instance, he says, Kingsley Manor recently upgraded its emergency call system. Instead of a resident hitting a call light in her room, which would trigger an alert at a nurses’s station, where a coordinator would then have to track down a nurse, residents now have pendants. When they press them, the alert goes straight to a nurse’s pager, bypassing the need for the coordinator entirely.

Still, no matter how many small cuts a facility makes, these are institutions that rely heavily on staffing to provide and administer care. That means the pressure is on the executive suite to retain and attract the best employees possible. Mindful that the competition is not simply other retirement homes, but also the hotel down the street, alumni say they emphasize the mission-oriented nature of the work in discussions with potential hires.

“I ask my team every day, ‘What are we offering to create a culture that is engaging, that coaches, grooms and inspires people?’”

Edalati says.

Stepanians acknowledges that the hospitality industry can pay workers more for a similar type of job. What her organization hopes to offer employees instead is a sense of belonging to a community in which their voice is heard, their work feels valuable, and they believe they are seen as human beings, not just another body clocking in and out every day. “As we call it, we’re the Home,” she says.

Adding to the pressure on finances is the awareness that skyrocketing rents are pricing some seniors onto the streets or into their cars. Both Sunrise Culver City and the Los Angeles Jewish Home attempt to provide housing for some low-income seniors. Sunrise has struck a deal with Culver City that allows the facility to allot about a quarter of its units to low-income residents. The Jewish Home is in the process of building subsidized housing across the street from its main campus in Reseda.

“This is a real question,” Stepanians says. “What do we do as an industry, and what do we do as an organization?”

Even some of the Home’s existing residents are on budgets so tight that their discretionary spending allowance is as low as $20 a month, Stepanians says, adding that many prefer to spend what little they have on a cellphone or on gifts for family members: Staff members realized residents were skipping purchases of over-the-counter medicines and vitamins. When executives understood what was happening, they made changes to assist residents with the medications, so no one would feel stigmatized by asking for free pills.

As a nonprofit organization, the Jewish Home is able to pay for such efforts with the support of donors and revenue from upscale housing. Still, it remains an effort to keep services affordable for the majority of residents as labor and other costs continue to rise.

“I think we’re all feeling the pressures of this industry, to provide the best care with limited resources,” Stepanians says.

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JUAN BRAVO HAD EARNED HIS BACHELOR’S DEGREE IN MOLECULAR BIOLOGY FROM YALE UNIVERSITY WHEN HE BEGAN THINKING ABOUT PURSUING A SECOND DEGREE IN GERONTOLOGY. AS HE WATCHED HIS OWN PARENTS AGE, HE REALIZED HE WANTED TO DO SOMETHING THAT WOULD HELP OTHER OLDER ADULTS COPE WITH AGE-RELATED ILLNESSES.

BY Shannon Flynn

PHOTOGRAPHY BY Stephanie Kleinman

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The U.S. Census Bureau says that in just a few decades, Americans over the age of 65 will outnumber children for the first time in the nation’s history. So when it came time for Bravo to choose a school for his doctoral degree, the USC Leonard Davis School of Gerontology stood out as a collaborative and richly engaging school dedicated to understanding aging and cultivating leaders in biogerontology.

“In my experience, this type of community doesn’t exist in too many other places,” he says. “You might see a lab or two that focuses on aging, but USC is one of the only places that has a community of researchers interested in understanding how aging works.”

BALANCING RIGOROUS RESEARCH WITH TRAINING — USC’s unique doctoral program focuses on molecular, cellular, and regenerative medicine as well as the integrative biology of aging. It also brings together two world-renowned institutions: the USC Leonard Davis School of Gerontology and the Buck Institute for Research on Aging in Northern California.

The heart of the Biology of Aging postgraduate degree at USC, the first of its kind, resides in its laboratories. That’s where faculty provide first-year students an overview of gerontology research topics and techniques to set the foundation for their own work.

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The program also features core courses on the molecular and cellular biology of aging and age-related diseases. Students select a specialty among neuroscience, molecular and cellular biology, stem cell and regenerative sciences, and biomedical sciences. They also attend a yearlong journal club to analyze and critique scientific literature.

“USC has really broadened my horizons,” Bravo says. “Coming to USC and diving into aging research helped me find a bunch of different things that contribute to aging, and I became interested in topics I didn’t even know about before.”

RESEARCHING COMPLEX AND EMERGING AREAS OF AGING — Bravo eventually selected the Benayoun Lab. Under the direction of Assistant Professor of Gerontology Bérénice Benayoun, the lab focuses on uncovering how aging influences genomic regulation. Bravo is examining the molecular biology of aging. He’s studying specific pieces of DNA in cells called transposons that tend to move around as organisms get older and learning how this movement contributes to aging.

“Research has shown that transposons become more active with age and can contribute to DNA instability through excessive ‘jumping,’” he says. “My preliminary data additionally suggests that transposons target mitochondria, which carry their own DNA, and that this is influenced by age. I aim to characterize the functional implications this has and the mechanisms mitochondria utilize

Bravo conducts research in the laboratory of Assistant Professor of Gerontology Bérénice Benayoun, which focuses on how aging influences genomic regulation.

“Coming to USC and diving into aging research helped me find a bunch of different things that contribute to aging, and I became interested in topics I didn’t even know about before.”

to protect themselves from these insults.”

Ultimately, by understanding these interactions, Bravo hopes the research can inform future therapies that promote the integrity of mitochondria — the organelles within cells that produce the energy needed for life — and thus promote overall health.

USC is one of the only institutions working on the complex question of how transposons affect aging, and Bravo says it’s given him a valuable opportunity to hone his research interests and skills in a specific area of study.

“My initial focus was just on aging very broadly,” he says. “[But] after my first year, I settled down with a lab and just hit the ground running.”

After graduating, he plans to continue working as a researcher in academia. In the meantime, Bravo is learning how to find and apply for grants, conduct experiments and analyze scientific literature.

As the recipient of a prestigious NSF Graduate Research Fellowship, he says he also is fortunate to have independent funding for three years to focus on understanding the complex interactions between bacteria-like and virus-like entities inside cells that may influence aging.

The funding not only liberates lab resources and allows Bravo to pursue a riskier research topic, but it also contributes to improving diversity in science through mentorship and outreach—a value that is important both to Bravo and USC. “This award is, in many ways, freedom,” he says. “[It’s] not only a major achievement, but also a major responsibility (that I am very happy to take on!)”

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THERE ARE A LOT OF MYTHS AND MISINFORMATION ABOUT GETTING OLDER, BUT WHAT’S THE REAL STORY BEHIND THE STEREOTYPES? EXPERTS FROM THE USC LEONARD DAVIS SCHOOL OF GERONTOLOGY AND ACROSS USC ADDRESS EIGHT POPULAR MISCONCEPTIONS ABOUT AGING AND HEALTH AND SET THE RECORD STRAIGHT.

BY BETH NEWCOMB

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A healthy diet looks the same for everyone.

Taking lot of antioxidant-rich vitamins will counteract free radical damage, prevent disease and slow aging.

Average lifespans in the U.S. are steadily getting longer.

Only people with low socioeconomic status experience financial hardship due to health care costs.

Genetic differences can mean that diets affect people differently, says dietitian Cary Kreutzer, USC Leonard Davis associate professor and director of the Master of Science in Nutrition, Healthspan and Longevity program.

For instance, studies have shown that genes can influence how different individuals metabolize the same substances, from vitamins to caffeine, at different rates.

A healthy diet is important, but antioxidant enzymes made in our bodies – not those found in our diet – provide the most protection against free radicals, says USC Leonard Davis School Executive Vice Dean and USC Distinguished Professor Kelvin Davies. Eating more of these antioxidant enzymes isn’t effective prevention, as they’re largely destroyed during digestion.

After more than doubling over the course of the 20th century, average U.S. lifespans have decreased for the past few years and are now falling behind those of other wealthy nations, says USC University Professor and AARP Professor of Gerontology Eileen Crimmins. “We are ranked 36th in life expectancy [among developed nations in 2016],” she says. “For the country that spends the most on health care, this is a very, very poor outcome.”

Even higher-income households can experience hardships due to medical costs, says USC Leonard Davis Assistant Professor Reginald Tucker-Seeley, who studies how chronic conditions such as cancer and Alzheimer’s disease affect financial well-being. Even in higher-income families, he says, “income and expenses can be so closely related that one surprise – one missed paycheck, one medical bill – can wreak financial havoc."

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Only younger people have the energy and cognition to complete a college degree.

Older people are afraid to use new computer technology.

Brain health and cognition get uniformly worse with age.

Diseases of aging are inevitable, so it makes more sense to fund research into treatments and disease management versus prevention.

People get educated at all ages. 2500 students at USC are 40 or older, and 10 percent of graduate students are older than 40, says Caroline Cicero, USC Leonard Davis instructional associate professor and director of the USC Age-Friendly University Initiative. “USC has graduated students who are in their 90s,” she adds. In addition, many staff and faculty members work into their 80s and beyond.

It depends on the features of the technology and the experience and interests of the person, says USC Leonard Davis Professor Elizabeth Zelinski. She mentions that a recent survey showed that older adults will select technologies that are easy to use and that match their preferences. For instance, she says, “Younger people are more likely to use smartphones, but a larger proportion of older people own tablet computers."

Neuroscience reveals that while some regions of the brain suffer declines, others can show growth over time in some people, says Associate Professor S. Duke Han of the Keck School of Medicine of USC. Along with that, while some aspects of cognition can decline (e.g., processing speed), other aspects of intelligence and memory can improve. “There’s something to the old adage ‘With age comes wisdom,’” Han says.

While current economic incentives reward better disease management instead of research into prevention, delaying aging would be worth about $7 trillion to society, says Dana Goldman, Distinguished Professor at the USC Sol Price School of Public Policy and the USC School of Pharmacy. “We need to figure out how to reward prevention."

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NOTES

STUDENTS —

“There was so much to learn in every city, and it always varied from the next. I made some great friends that I hope will span a lifetime and had tons of laughs in each and every city.”

— Caleigh Poitier MSG/ MSW ’21, GERO 493

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This summer, students from throughout the university traveled across the globe to get international perspectives on aging topics as part of the USC Leonard Davis School’s study-abroad programs. Course topics ranged from how nutrition and food culture affect longevity to how psychology changes with aging and how death customs and ceremonies vary throughout ancient and modern societies.

Traveling throughout Italy and Germany, Associate Professor Susan Enguidanos and students in GERO 493, Longevity and Death Among Ancient and Modern European Populations, explored the longevity and death practices in ancient and modern European societies.

GERO 494, Psychology of Adult Development, which was led by Professor Mara Mather and presented in conjunction with IDC Herzliya in Israel, taught students how psychologists study thinking, memory, emotions, personality and behavior, as well as how people change throughout the adult lifespan.

Students in GERO 498, Nutrition, Genes, Longevity and Disease, spent a month experiencing the Mediterranean lifestyle in Genoa, Italy, as well as gaining perspectives on the role of nutrition and genes in longevity and aging-related diseases from Professor Valter Longo. Longo also led GERO 488, Food, Culture, Disease and Longevity in Italy and in the Mediterranean, in Florence, Italy, during which students learned the history of food in the Mediterranean from Roman times to the present.

In a brand-new course led by Assistant Professor Jennifer Ailshire, students in GERO 499, Aging and Older Adults in Latin America, traveled to Medellín, Colombia, to provide volunteer social and rehabilitation services to older adults and learn about the social, economic, health care and environmental contexts in the rapidly aging nation.

Photos: Courtesy USC Leonard Davis students and faculty.

Study-Abroad Adventures

Opposite page: Professor Valter Longo with GERO 498 students in Italy.

Top left: GERO 493 students visited Venice and its famous canals.

Bottom and middle left: Professor Mara Mather and GERO 494 students participated in activities at IDC Herzliya and toured historical sites throughout Israel.

Bottom right: An exercise class at Hogar Nazareth, an elder wellness center in Medellín, Colombia.

“While Israel is often portrayed as a country plagued by conflict and adversity, I’ve found that I’ve never felt more happy, safe and intellectually stimulated than in my time spent studying in Tel Aviv and Jerusalem.”

— Ariana Chen ’21, GERO 494

“I loved conversing with the seniors and caregivers and hearing about their experiences. ... We had the opportunity to apply what we learned in class to the real world during our service.”

— Alexis Maggelet ’20, GERO 499

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NOTES

GIVING — Richard W. Cook ’72

Jacqueline DuPont MSG ’94

Richard O. Oxford ’59, MBA ’62

Kathy L. Rose MS ’75

40 | VITALITY

Four newly created endowed scholarships will help provide financial support to USC Leonard Davis School students in perpetuity.

USC alumni Dick Cook, Jacqueline DuPont, Dick Oxford and Kathy Rose all have recently made gifts to the school that ensure that students will have the ability to study at the world’s leader in gerontological education and research. Endowed scholarships create a legacy for the donor and ensure that students in need and the best-quality students are able to attend the USC Leonard Davis School without financial barriers.

Jacqueline DuPont MSG ’94 wanted to give back to her alma mater by creating a named scholarship like the one she benefited from as a graduate student at the USC Leonard Davis School.

Dick Oxford ’59, MBA ’62 has been a member of the Board of Councilors for decades, since joining as a local businessman. He has chosen to create an endowed scholarship in his and his late wife’s name as a lasting legacy at the school. While at USC, Dick was a member of the Trojan Knights and played for the Trojan men’s tennis team.

“Betty and I felt strongly that Davis School graduates would perform better in the business of caring for the aging because they understand the psychological and biological aspects of aging, not just the business side,” Oxford said.

Kathy Rose MS ’75 is one of the school’s newest Board of Councilors members. Kathy is passionate about helping the school advance its educational mission.

“I’m thrilled that my gift will ensure that students in need, and those who have a deep passion for gerontology, are given the opportunity to study at the world’s leader in aging research and education,” Rose said.

Dick Cook ’72 is no stranger to USC, where he was a member of the Trojan baseball team during his undergraduate years.

In the time since, Dick has served on the university’s Board of Trustees and also as president of the Alumni Association. In addition to being a member of the USC Leonard Davis School Board of Councilors, Dick sits on the board of directors of the USC Verdugo Hills Hospital Foundation. His wife, Bonnie, serves on the planning committee for the USC Leonard Davis School Vibrant Living Retreat. Their recent gifts to the Davis School have created the Richard and Bonnie Cook Endowed Scholarship Fund.

We are grateful to all of the leaders who have made significant gifts to help deserving students realize their dreams of studying at the USC Leonard Davis School of Gerontology.

— D.E.

Photos: Courtesy Richard Cook; courtesy Jacqueline DuPont; courtesy Kathy Rose; Steve Cohn and Orli Belman.

Benefactors create new endowed scholarships

RECOGNITION —

Kevin Xu receives USC Young Alumni Merit Award

Fritz Coleman, KNBC-TV Los Angeles weather reporter (left, with Dean Pinchas Cohen) shared some laughs about the aging process during his keynote speech at the 2019 Vibrant Living Retreat. The annual retreat is open to all alumni and friends of the USC Leonard Davis School (reservation required) and features presentations on healthy aging and wellness.

Vibrant Living Retreat

Congratulations to Kevin Xu, who received the Young Alumni Merit Award during the 2019 USC Alumni Association Awards held on May 4.

Xu, who graduated with a BA in Neuroscience in 2011, is the CEO of MEBO International and Skingenix, Inc. Xu also co-founded the National Rongxiang Xu Foundation, which promotes the advancement of regenerative science to improve human health. In 2016, he established the Rongxiang Xu Regenerative Life Science Lab and the Kevin Xu Chair in Gerontology at the USC Leonard Davis School.

The Young Alumni Merit Award is presented to an alumnus age 35 or younger who demonstrates exceptional commitment to the university and the community by giving generously of his or her time, energy and leadership.

“My life at USC not only taught me to Fight On, but most importantly, to know what and who I’m fighting for,” Xu said.

March 20 – 22, 2020 Register now for the 2020 Vibrant Living Retreat Ojai Valley Inn, Ojai, California $3,395 (double rate) | $2,895 (single rate)

Space is limited.

Call (213) 740-0777 to secure your reservation Learn more at gero.usc.edu/vibrantliving Kevin Xu ’11 (center) receives the 2019 Young Alumni Merit Award from Associate Senior Vice President for Alumni Relations Patrick Auerbach and Michael Felix, president of the USC Alumni Association Board of Governors.

FALL 2019 | 41

“Personally, for me, this white coat ceremony marks the beginning of my career as a future registered dietitian nutritionist. I am humbled to be part of this cohort that will lead our communities to healthy aging by means of nutrition and wellness.”

— Ranier Castillo, Master of Science in Nutrition, Healthspan and Longevity, Class of 2020

Photo: Joshtian John.

DRESS FOR SUCCESS

13 | VITALITY

The Dean’s Circle When you donate to the USC Leonard Davis School, you partner with us in the pursuit of excellence. Your support allows students to explore and engage further in their studies, advances our work to provide outreach and advocacy for older adults, and helps provide faculty scientists the best resources to conduct groundbreaking research. Please show your commitment to our students and mission by making a gift of $500 or

more to the USC Leonard Davis School, and join the Dean’s Circle today.

THANK YOU, AND FIGHT ON!

SPRING 2019 | 4

PAID

3715 McClintock Avenue Los Angeles, CA 90089 gero.usc.edu

University of Southern California

OCT 19, 2019

NOV 8, 2019

USC Homecoming

Finch Alzheimer’s Disease Symposium

— Cheer on the Trojans as they take on the Arizona Wildcats in the 2019 USC Homecoming football game! For tickets, call (213) 740-GOSC or visit usctrojans.com.

— The Finch Alzheimer’s Disease Symposium features presentations on basic and clinical science related to Alzheimer’s disease. To learn more and register, visit gero.usc.edu/finch-symposium.

USC Campus

OCT 31, 2019

1 2 :00 P.M. – 1 :00 P.M.

USC Leonard Davis School of Gerontology

— Gary Ruvkun, PhD, Professor of Molecular Biology at Harvard Medical School, will deliver the 2019 Kesten Memorial Lecture. To learn more, please visit gero.usc.edu/event/speaker-gary-ruvkun-phd.

OCT 31 – NOV 3, 2019

uscleonarddavis

19th CALM Conference

USC Leonard Davis School of Gerontology

— The Caregivers Are Learning More (CALM) Conference offers education and resources for families who provide care for older loved ones. To learn more, visit the USC Family Caregiver Support Center website at fcsc.usc.edu.

Vibrant Living Retreat Ojai Valley Inn

— Learn about the newest developments in science, nutrition, disease prevention and longevity that can help us all live longer and healthier lives. To register, visit gero.usc.edu/vibrantliving or call (213) 740-0777.

@USCLeonardDavis

/USCLeonardDavis

/company/usc-leonard-davis

FALL 2019

— Trojan Family Weekend offers visiting families a snapshot of the life of their USC student and provides an up-close look at how the campus community achieves excellence in teaching, research and public service. Learn more and register at tfw.usc.edu.

STAY IN TOUCH

9 : 00 A. M. – 2: 00 P. M.

MAR 20-22, 2020

Trojan Family Weekend USC Campus

8 : 30 A. M. – 5 : 00 P. M.

USC Leonard Davis School of Gerontology

NOV 9, 2019

Kesten Memorial Lecture

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