IOA Member Spotlight: Nancy Hodgson, PhD, RN, FAAN, FGSA - Advancing Dementia Care Through Compassion, Research, and Inclusion
By Nicolette Calcavecchia
Nancy Hodgson, PhD, RN, FAAN, FGSA
Claire M. Fagin Leadership Professor in Nursing
Nancy A. Hodgson, the Claire M. Fagin Leadership Professor in Nursing, is an internationally recognized nurse scientist whose work exemplifies the power of community-centered scholarship and mentorship. As department chair, Dr. Hodgson is widely recognized for fostering a culture of openness, collaboration, and inclusion. Through her mentorship, listening sessions, and intentional community-building efforts, she creates spaces where faculty, staff, and students feel heard, supported, and empowered to contribute their unique perspectives, continuing to strengthen the Penn Nursing community and advance compassionate, evidence-based care. Drawing on more than 30…
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The 2026 Sylvan M. Cohen Annual Retreat
By Nicolette Calcavecchia
"Aging Brains, Aging Vessels"
The 2026 Sylvan M. Cohen Annual Retreat, hosted by the Institute on Aging in partnership with the Penn Cardiovascular Institute (Penn CVI) and the North American Artery Society (NAA), explored the important relationship between cardiovascular and brain health through the theme, “Aging Brains, Aging Vessels.” Held as a half-day extension of the 2026 NAA Conference, the retreat convened researchers and clinicians across aging, neurology, and vascular biology to examine how vascular health is linked to neurodegenerative disease and cognitive aging.
The program featured presentations on cerebral cavernous malformation as a brain-specific vascular disease, brain perfusion in…
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Meet the Speakers of "Aging Brains, Aging Vessels"
By Nicolette Calcavecchia
"Aging Brains, Aging Vessels"
A Sylvan M. Cohen Annual Retreat and extension of the 2026 NAA Conference
Co-sponsored by the Penn Cardiovascular Institute and the North American Artery Society
May 8, 2026
12:00 - 5:00pm
Smilow Center for Translational Research, Rubenstein Auditorium and Lobby
and online
Learn more and view the full schedule here.
Register to attend
Meet the Speakers
Keynote Speaker:
Roxana Carare, MD, PhD
University of Southampton
Roxana Carare qualified in Medicine in Bucharest in 1994. During her basic clinical training, she became fascinated by anatomy and completed her PhD in neuropathology in 2006, in the University of…
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Eddie Lee, MD, PhD named Director of CNDR
By Nicolette Calcavecchia
Congratulations to IOA Co-Director Eddie Lee, MD, PhD, on being named Director of the Center for Neurodegenerative Disease Research (CNDR) at the University of Pennsylvania, following the leadership of Virginia M.-Y. Lee, PhD.
“Virginia is a generational inspiration. I have learned so much from her about science, how to approach leadership, and what it means to have an impact on the world,” says Dr. Lee. “Her work laid the foundation for the entire field of neurodegenerative diseases.”
In his new role as Director of CNDR, Dr. Lee will prioritize (1) enhancing pathology, biomarker, and genomic infrastructure, including digital…
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IOA Member Spotlight: Nirmala Nirinjini Naidoo, PhD - Understanding how disrupted sleep affects the brain
By Nicolette Calcavecchia
Nirmala Nirinjini Naidoo, PhD
Research Professor of Medicine (Sleep Medicine), University of Pennsylvania
Biography
Nirmala Nirinjini Naidoo, PhD, is a Research Professor of Medicine (Sleep Medicine) and Chair of the Chronobiology and Sleep Institute Seminar Series at the University of Pennsylvania, Dr. Naidoo’s research focuses on proteostatic mechanisms underlying age related changes in sleep and wake regulation. She has established that sleep loss or sleep disturbances induce endoplasmic reticulum (ER) stress that up-regulates an adaptive homeostatic signaling pathway, the unfolded protein response (UPR). She has demonstrated that the UPR and proteostasis become impaired with aging. ER stress and the UPR are critical to…
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