Events
UMAging Symposium 2026
Thursday, March 26, 2026
Dr. Birditt and Research Assistant, Rachel Garabedian, presented at the UMAging Symposium in Ann Arbor, MI. They presented findings from the WE-Care Pilot, which assessed the feasibility and acceptability of the Roadmap 2.0, a positive-activity mobile health application, for Alzheimer’s disease and related dementia (ADRD) caregivers.
2026 Dementia Care and Caregiving Research Summit
March 17-19, 2026
Dr Birditt attended the virtual 2026 Dementia and Caregiving Research Summit and presented findings from the UAS-CLEAR: A New Nationally Representative Longitudinal Study of Caregiving Experiences and Well-Being Across the Lifecourse (Birditt & Angrisani, Multiple PI), R01 (AG083097), National Institute on Aging, 08/15/2023-04/30/2028.
MeTRIC Symposium 2026
Tuesday, January 27, 2026
The ABI team attended the MeTRIC Symposium in Ann Arbor, MI. Research Assistants, Allison Doroshewitz and Rachel Garabedian, presented findings from the WE-Care Pilot, which assessed the feasibility and acceptability of the Roadmap 2.0, a positive-activity mobile health application, for Alzheimer’s disease and related dementia (ADRD) caregivers.
Couples Who Drink Together Stay Together: Alcohol Use, Marital Quality, and Health Among Older Couples
Tuesday August 5, 2025
Dr. Birditt was the keynote speaker at the 32nd Annual B1G Retirees Association Conference held August 5-7, 2025. She presented findings from Alcohol Consumption and Cardiovascular Health among Older Couples: The Roles of Genetics and Marital Quality, R01 (Birditt, PI; AA026687), National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism.
Under the influence: Alcohol use and health implications among older couples
Thursday, December 5, 2024
Alcohol may have negative implications for older adults due to age-related physiological changes and medication use that may make even small amounts of alcohol use detrimental. Research on younger couples has revealed that couples who have concordant drinking behaviors (e.g., both drink alcohol) tend to have better quality marriages and are less likely to divorce compared to couples who have discordant drinking behaviors. It is unclear whether these same patterns exist among older couples and whether they have implications for physical health as they grow older together. This talk discussed findings from our NIAAA-funded project that examined alcohol use and health among couples in the Health and Retirement Study.
Gerontological Society of America Annual Conference 2024
November 13th-16th, 2024
The Aging and Biopsychosocial Innovations Program team attended the Gerontological Society of America Conference 2024 in Seattle, WA. Research Assistants, Emma Weber and Angelica Eagle, presented findings from the SWEL-Care Study. Their poster was titled ” A Balancing Act: Qualitative Descriptions of Daily Stress among Black and White Dementia Caregivers.” Dr. Birditt presented findings from the Health and Retirement Study that explored the links between hearing loss and loneliness in older adults. Great work, everyone!
Society for Ambulatory Assessment Annual Conference 2024
June 3rd – 5th, 2024
The Aging and Biopsychosocial Innovations Program team attended the Society for Ambulatory Assessment Conference 2024 in Ann Arbor. Research assistant, Jane Stephenson, and project manager, Akari Oya, gave their research talk, “Differences in Daily Emotional and Cardiovascular Well-Being for Child and Spousal Caregivers”. ABI director, Kira Birditt, and data analyst, Angie Turkelson, gave their talk, “Positive activities and daily cardiovascular health among dementia care dyads: The role of negative affect and social interactions” and research assistant, Emily Noyer, presented her talk “Vigilance in Daily Life: Implications for Cardiovascular Health Among Black and White Americans”. Excellent work team!
Association for Psychological Science Annual Conference 2024
May 23rd – 26th, 2024
Research Assistant, Emily Noyer, traveled to San Francisco, CA to present her poster at the Association for Psychological Science. The poster explained the effects of social support on the association between daily burden and emotional well-being among dementia caregivers. Data Analyst, Angie Turkelson and ABI Director, Kira Birditt contributed to the project.
Gerontological Society of America Annual Conference 2023
November 8th – 12th, 2023
The ABI Team traveled to Tampa, Florida to present at The Gerontological Society of America Conference. Research Assistants Jane Stephenson and Emily Noyer presented a poster on the link between hearing loss and social ties. Data Analyst, Angela Turkelson, presented a poster on alcohol use among older couples and the implications of alcohol use trajectories on self-rated health. ABI Director, Dr. Kira Birditt, gave a talk on the moderating effects of caregiver burden on positive activities and well-being among caregivers of people living with dementia. Great job to everyone who contributed to these projects!
Speaker Series: New and Exciting Research at the Michigan ADRC
Tuesday September 27, 2022.
Our monthly Speaker Series provides educational information on a variety of dementia and caregiving related topics. Our target audience for this series is professionals who may work in dementia care and community members who may be interested in learning more. The goal of the series is to increase awareness around these topics and to provide a space to have questions answered.
To learn more and for future Speaker Series dates and topics, please visit alxheimers.med.umich.edu/events
CAPS Workshop: Methods of Ambulatory Assessment
Tuesday May 11th, 2021.
Advances in Big Data and New Data for Aging, NIA Aging Centers’ Collaborative Virtual Methods Workshop Series. A recording of this is event is available by clicking here
Stress & Health in Context: The Role of Negative Relationships
Wednesday April 28th, 2021.
As burgeoning literature shows, social ties are integral for health and survival. As Director of the Aging & Biospsychosocial Innovations Program at ISR, Kira Birditt‘s research focuses on the negative aspects of relationships including the extent to which they are irritating, critical, or demanding. In this talk she will discuss the findings from her program of research showing that: 1) There is a great deal of variability in negative aspects of relationships within and between individuals, 2) Negative aspects of relationships have important implications for health that often vary by the context of stress, and 3) The implications of relationships and stress vary race/ethnicity. She will also discuss the Aging and Biopsychosocial Innovations program that she leads and directions for future research.