The president and CEO of the Longevity Science Foundation, Lisa Ireland, recently delivered the keynote address and led the “Putting Together the Puzzle Pieces of Longevity” panel at the Library of Congress in Washington, D.C., last month. The event, sponsored by the Longevity Science Foundation and the Library’s American Folklife Center, in collaboration with the Health Services Division, brought together experts from various fields related to longevity science. The panel discussed the correlation between cognitive wellness and quality of life.
“We at the Longevity Science Foundation are pleased to have co-sponsored this important ‘Putting Together the Puzzle Pieces of Longevity’ event at the Library of Congress,” Ireland says. “Our goal is to ensure that longevity is accessible to everyone. We are pleased to continue to bring awareness to how cognitive wellness interacts with quality of life.”
During the panel discussion, various topics were covered, including the ethics of longevity science, neural health, and the impact of art engagement on the brain. The panel’s objective was to change the focus from “mental health” to “cognitive wellness,” with an emphasis on improving the quality of life for the elderly. Ireland highlighted the Longevity Science Foundation’s efforts to promote the well-being of aging adults by encouraging innovative approaches to enhance cognitive and psychological health.
The panel, led by Ireland, comprised of national experts such as Jon Kay, who is the director of Traditional Arts Indiana at Indiana University and the author of “Folk Art and Aging: Life-Story Objects and Their Makers”; Kelly O’Brien, who is the vice president of Prevention for UsAgainstAlzheimer’s; and Susan Magsamen, who is the executive director of the International Arts and Mind Lab at the Pedersen Brain Science Institute at Johns Hopkins
The event is now available in the Library’s Event Videos collection.
Ireland is a passionate advocate of longevity science and travels globally to establish connections and secure funding for research that can benefit people leading everyday lives. She has worked with various nonprofit organizations, such as the Rochester Museum and Science Center (RMSC) in New York. Before joining RMSC, she served as the Director of Donor Relations and Stewardship at the Rochester Institute of Technology, where she had a proven track record of success in fundraising and building relationships with donors.
The Longevity Science Foundation is a nonprofit organization dedicated to advancing human longevity by funding research and developing medical technologies to extend the healthy human lifespan. Its long-term mission is to ensure longevity-focused care is accessible to everyone, regardless of background, by making cutting-edge aging science more accessible to the public.