Jonathan Riggs

USC Leonard Davis School alum Lauren Iwata won a prestigious honor: being named 2013 Nisei Week Queen. According to its website, Nisei Week, first held in 1934, is a nine-day event that celebrates Japanese and Japanese American heritage and traditions while uniting Southern California’s diverse communities through arts and cultural education. (photo courtesy of Toyo MIYATAKE Studios)

USC Leonard Davis: How does it feel to be named 2013 Nisei Week Queen?
LAUREN IWATA: I am so honored to be crowned the 2013 Nisei Week Queen because of the tradition that Nisei Week stands for in our community. As a young girl, I would always see the young women in the Rafu Shimpo (Japanese newspaper) and comment on how beautiful they were, and how they seemed so accomplished after reading their bios. Participating in Nisei Week as a Queen Candidate is something I never imagined myself doing since I was always very shy, and did not have much confidence. The thought of speaking on stage, and becoming an ambassador of the Japanese American community was not only intimidating, but the idea of it was actually frightening to me. However, upon graduating from California State University, Long Beach with my bachelor’s degree, and entering the USC Leonard Davis School of Gerontology, I found my passion in what I wanted to study and really matured as a young woman. The graduate program at the Davis School provided me with experiences in the classroom and out in the field to help me become happy and comfortable with who I am. Being selected as the 2013 Nisei Week Queen has given me a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to represent the Japanese American community throughout Southern California and I am awestruck to join the exclusive group of young women whom I have always looked up to.

What makes you proud of being part of Nisei Week?
Being part of Nisei Week is truly an amazing experience. I have met many individuals representing various organizations and businesses just within this past week who have shown so much support toward the 2013 Nisei Week Court and Nisei Week Foundation. It is exciting to connect with all these people and learn about their contributions to the Japanese American community. Nisei Week aims to bring the older and younger generations together by mixing old traditions with new activities. As someone who studied gerontology, I am passionate about bridging the generational gap and showing people how much we can learn from one another. I am proud to be part of the younger generation to share new ideas with older adults. However, I understand the importance of preserving tradition and learning more about my culture from the older generation. Nisei Week serves as an excellent example in showing the significance of passing along our heritage to the younger generations and that is why I am proud to now be a part of this event.

How do you hope to incorporate your gerontological interests into your reign?
I am currently interning with Keiro Senior HealthCare in Boyle Heights. Keiro is a nonprofit healthcare organization serving the Japanese American population with four healthcare facilities throughout the greater Los Angeles area while also promoting healthy lifestyles within the community. My internship was within The Institute for Healthy Aging department, which acts as a community resource and performs health education to churches, community centers, and many other various organizations. Working with Keiro has utilized my education from the Davis School of Gerontology, while Nisei Week has now connected me further to my Japanese American heritage. My future gerontology goals are to work within a long-term care facility ensuring proper care among residents and helping family members understand what their loved ones are going through. I also hope to be continuously active in health education to aid individuals in remaining healthy and independent within the community. By becoming an ambassador to the Japanese-American community, I would love to incorporate my gerontological interests by becoming a community resource that people trust and make a difference in the lives of older adults.

What would you like the general public to know about Nisei Week?
2013 marked the 73^rd annual Nisei Week Japanese Festival. The Nisei Week Foundation mission is to promote Japanese and Japanese American heritage and traditions while bringing together the diverse communities of Southern California through arts and cultural education. Every year, the Foundation produces the nine-day Nisei Week Japanese Festival and it is one of the longest running ethnic festivals in the United States. My reign as Nisei Week Queen will last one year, but I can already tell you that my life has changed just within this past week. Many individuals within our community have been generously volunteering their time in teaching cultural classes and skills to get the 2013 Court ready, not only for Nisei Week, but also for life. Receiving training on public speaking, teamwork, and communication and learning about the community and its rich history are valuable lessons to each of us as young women on the Nisei Week Court. Later this year and next year, we will travel to Japan, Hawaii, Washington and Northern California as representatives of the Southern California Japanese American community. The whole experience is such an honor, and I hope those reading this article will join us in future Nisei Week festivals to be a part of this long-time tradition!

Anything else you’d like to say?
I graduated in May 2013 from the USC Leonard Davis School of Gerontology, and I have to say I’m going to miss it! I cannot describe how great my experience was from the vast knowledge I took away from the classroom, the valuable skills I obtained from internship placements, and the amazing people I met through the graduate program. I received an immense amount of support from my professors, and I am very thankful for their hard work in shaping their students into young professionals. I also appreciate all my classmates who I know are doing great things within the gerontology field now. While I was training for Nisei Week, I received so much support from friends who I have met through the program. My fellow gerontology classmate, Michelle Pastrano, even attended Nisei Week Coronation to cheer me on! I am honored to be part of the USC family, and will always be connected to the USC Leonard Davis School throughout my life.

Click here to read Lauren’s blog entry for GenkiWoman, “My Genki Journey Through Nisei Week.”

http://genkiwoman.org/2013/08/22/my-genki-journey-through-nisei-week

Incoming students from around the world gathered for the 2013 USC Leonard Davis School orientation. Getting the opportunity to meet staff, faculty and classmates proved a warm welcome for all attendees, whether they were freshman, transfers or doctoral students.

“We’re excited you’re here and to play a role in this important beginning in your lives. You’re starting an incredible journey in a remarkable school,” said USC Leonard Davis dean Pinchas Cohen. “It’s a great time to be in the field of gerontology, which is the unique marriage of social and biological sciences with technology and humanities in way very few professions can claim. My door is always open to you as we work to move the field of gerontology forward together.”

Presentations followed from every department of the School, including its library, Andrus Volunteers, internship program and the Student Gerontology Association (SGA).

“Welcome everyone: you are an impressive group!” said Patrick Beck, USC Leonard Davis doctoral student and SGA president. “SGA is a great place to take on a leadership role and meet your colleagues. We’re here to help support you outside class with fun activities and events but also to help you grow as scholars and students in the community.”

Besides receiving a complimentary flash drive that included PDFs of the USC Leonard Davis School student handbook, orientation PowerPoint and USC Catalogue, attendees also enjoyed introductions to the USC Leonard Davis School faculty and their research by USC Leonard Davis School vice dean Kelvin Davies.

Administrators also shone a light on two new courses of interest: the first a penetrating look at the science (and scams) of the multibillion-dollar anti-aging industry taught by bestselling author Greg Critser (Eternity Soup) and the second an innovative examination of evidence-based health promotions for older adults taught by Janet Frank, president of the Association of Gerontology in Higher Education (AGHE).

Emphasizing the opportunities available both in and out of the classroom, the program ended on a note of empowering students to enhance their USC Leonard Davis School experience through research, internship and community service opportunities.

“I want to encourage you to make the most of everything here,” said associate dean Maria Henke. “We want you to have a full experience so you can move on to the next step of your life successfully after graduation.”

“You are in the right place,” said USC Leonard Davis School professor Kathleen Wilber. “This is the greatest program in the world.”

Changhan David Lee, a research assistant professor at the USC Leonard Davis School of Gerontology, won the Ellison Medical Foundation’s New Scholar in Aging Award.

“The award will foster new studies to explore unchartered areas of aging research, and also increases the visibility of my research done as a member of the Davis School of Gerontology,” said Lee. “I am truly honored to receive it.”

One of the most prestigious accolades in the field, the New Scholar in Aging Award pays up to $100,000 per year for four years to help newly independent researchers of exceptional promise study the biology of aging and aging-related diseases.

Lee joins fellow assistant professor Sean Curran as a rising scientist on the USC Leonard Davis School faculty whose extraordinary potential was recognized by the New Scholar in Aging Award. In fact, Lee sees this as a testament to the USC Leonard Davis School and its stature as the world’s oldest and largest school of gerontology.

 “Our School has long been a pioneer of aging research and I believe this is another occasion where our leading role has been appreciated,” Lee said. “I hope my association with the Ellison Medical Foundation will contribute to the School’s continuum of innovation and discoveries.”

Provost Beth Garrett and Dr. John Walsh

Long recognized as an enormously effective and creative leader both in the classroom and in the lab, John Walsh, an associate professor of gerontology at the USC Leonard Davis School specializing in neuroscience, saw his exceptional work recognized with two major awards.

Earlier this year, he won one of only two Associates Awards for Excellence in Teaching given out annually at USC. In her remarks on his selection, provost Beth Garrett highlighted the flair for innovation that helped make Walsh a standout throughout his twenty-plus years as a Trojan.

“He capitalized on the multimedia revolution, realizing that it offered an opportunity to further his connection to students and to develop cutting-edge instruction tools and methods. Professor Walsh’s students esteem him for his enthusiasm, kindness, approachability and easygoing style, and his stellar reputation attracts students not only to his classes, but also to his movement disorders laboratory,” she said.

Receiving this high-profile award helped pave the way for Walsh to earn another, in fact, when he won a nearly $200,000 grant from the National Science Foundation to pioneer the use of multimedia, social media and gaming to teach neuroscience via mobile devices.

“‘Digital aging’ is an important focus for the USC Leonard Davis School, but we have to remember that it’s not just digital aging—it’s digital everything. Current and future generations will expect easy and reliable access to digital information and resources on retirement, housing, disease and cultural support,” Walsh said. “I have always been dedicated to using the latest technology and innovative approaches to further both my science and my students’ understanding, and I’m proud to help the Davis School advance its mission of being the world’s best source of information on aging—digital and otherwise.”

“John Walsh manages to be that extremely rare combination: a world-class scientist as well as a world-class teacher. We are so proud to see his creativity and vision recognized with these awards,” said Pinchas Cohen, dean of the USC Leonard Davis School. “His passion for science and students inspires us all. It is amazing to realize the impact he has had on the field, both through his own work and that of the many gifted alums who spent time in his lab or his classes.”

As grateful as he is for the recognition as both a scientist and a teacher, Walsh says that success in one area helps inspire him in the other.

“Research in education is a means for keeping teaching fresh and exciting, and it means so much to me to know that my methods are not only effective but also enjoyable for students,” Walsh said. “Teaching, like science, is an ever-changing art form, and I feel rewarded every day when I see the impact I can have on my students—and that they can have on me.”

As befitting its status as the world’s oldest and largest school of gerontology, the USC Leonard Davis School was well represented at the 20^th International Association of Gerontology and Geriatrics (IAGG) World Congress, held from June 23-28 in Seoul, South Korea.

Highlighting the Congress’s theme of “Digital @geing: A New Horizon for Health Care and Active Ageing,” USC Leonard Davis dean Pinchas Cohen and associate dean Maria Henke were on hand to discuss the School’s own proposed Digital Aging Center.

“We are deeply honored to join this global conversation on how to apply cutting-edge technology to the study of aging and to the service of the aged,” Cohen said. “Aging is the most universal of human experiences and it is our great pleasure to discuss the future of this exciting field with our international colleagues.”

Established in Belgium in 1950, the IAGG boasts organizations in 64 countries, a worldwide membership of nearly 50,000 and a consultant position to the United Nations. Its mission is to improve the global quality of life for older adults by serving as a network dedicated to sharing research results on health, welfare and rights.

“The ageing society is now a global challenge faced by not only advanced countries, but by the entire world,” said Heung Bong Cha, president-elect of IAGG in his invitation to attendees. “With the full support of the Korean government, I am confident that the Congress will be a successful global academic festivity of exchanging relevant research findings from all five continents and six oceanic regions of the world.”

Imagine: a pharmaceutical prevention, treatment or even cure for Alzheimer’s.

It is almost impossible to overstate how monumental a development that would be, and how it would answer the prayers of millions.

Although science isn’t there—yet—a new study published in The Journal of Neuroscience spearheaded by USC Leonard Davis School of Gerontology researchers offers a tantalizing glimpse of potential solutions.

“Our data suggests the possibility of drugs that can prevent and treat Alzheimer’s,” said lead author, professor and lab principal Christian Pike of the USC Leonard Davis School. “It’s just mouse data, but extremely encouraging mouse data.”

The team studied the effects of a class of drugs called TSPO ligands on male mice that were genetically engineered to develop Alzheimer’s disease, known as 3xTg-AD mice. Because a key mechanism of TSPO ligands is to increase production of steroid hormones, it was important to ensure that the mice had low levels of testosterone and related hormones before treatment. Younger mice were castrated while, in older mice, the decrease occurred as a normal consequence of aging.

“We looked at the effects of TSPO ligand in young adult mice when pathology was at an early stage, and in aged mice when pathology was quite severe,” Pike said. “TSPO ligand reduced measures of pathology and improved behavior at both ages.”

The most surprising finding for Pike and his team was the effect of TSPO ligand in the aged mice. Four treatments—once per week over four weeks—in aged 3xTg-AD mice resulted in significant lowering of Alzheimer’s-related pathology and improvements in memory behavior. This finding suggested the possibility that TSPO ligands can reverse components of Alzheimer’s disease, and thus have the potential to be useful in treatment.

For humans, these findings may indeed be quite significant.

“TSPO ligands are currently used in humans in certain types of neuroimaging. Newer TSPO ligands are at the clinical trials stage of development for treatment of anxiety and other conditions,” Pike said. “There is a strong possibility that TSPO ligands similar to the ones used in our study could be evaluated for therapeutic efficacy in Alzheimer’s patients within the next few years.”

In light of their findings, the team will next focus on understanding how TSPO ligands reduce Alzheimer’s disease pathology. Building on the established knowledge that TSPO ligands can act protective by reducing inflammation, shielding nerve cells from injury and increasing the production of neuroactive hormones in the brain, the team will study which of these actions is the most significant in fighting Alzheimer’s disease so they can develop newer TSPO ligands accordingly.

While Pike and his team acknowledge that their findings represent a very exciting possibility, they also stress that it is by no means a given.

“From the optimistic perspective, our data provide very promising findings with tangible potential benefits for both the prevention and treatment of Alzheimer’s,” Pike said. “On the pessimistic side, research scientists have developed many interventions that cured Alzheimer’s in mice but have failed to show significant benefits in humans. A critical direction we are currently pursuing is successfully translating these findings into humans.”

Co-authors of the study were Anna M. Barron (USC Leonard Davis School and Molecular Imaging Center, National Institute of Radiological Sciences, Japan); Luis M. Garcia-Segura (Instituto Cajal, Spain); Donatella Caruso and Roberto C. Melcangi (Department of Pharmacological and Biomolecular Sciences, Center of Excellence on Neurodegenerative Diseases, University of Milan); and Anusha Jayaraman and Joo-Won Lee (USC Leonard Davis).

The research was funded by the National Institutes of Health in support of the USC Alzheimer’s Disease Research Center, directed by Helena Chui.