March 13, 2012, Santa Barbara — New and innovative research being developed in Alzheimer’s disease is the subject of the opening keynote address of the 2012 Alzheimer’s Association conference, Dementia: Current Trends & Future Directions, slated for April 18 at Montecito Country Club in Santa Barbara.

This annual, day-long conference features keynote speakers and workshop presentations in all aspects of dementia including legal and financial issues; public policy; behaviors; caregiving; patients’ rights; medication; and arts and creativity in the brain.

Marc Jacobson, Ph.D., licensed clinical psychologist with the Veterans Affairs Medical Center in San Diego and assistant professor at University of California, San Diego School of Medicine, will present the opening keynote. Jacobson, recipient of an Alzheimer’s Association research award, will describe recent investigations into related neurodegenerative disorders (Huntington’s, Parkinson’s and others) that may have a big impact on Alzheimer research and treatment.

New this year, conference highlights will be available via Twitter as they happen during the day. People at the conference can participate in the Twitter conversation (#Alz2012), and anyone else can follow the conversation as well.

Created especially to meet the needs of caregivers — unpaid family members and professional caregivers —the conference is also open to anyone who wants to learn more about Alzheimer’s and other forms of dementia. Professionals who attend are eligible for continuing education credits.

Some of the topics being covered at the conference include what to do after receiving an Alzheimer diagnosis; the legal and financial considerations of dementia; medications; and patients’ rights, among others. Conference details and registration information can be found at www.alz.org/cacentralcoast.

The conference is 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., Wednesday, April 18, at the Montecito Country Club in Santa Barbara. Participant registration is $95 per person, if registered by 5 p.m. April 1 — $105 after 5 p.m. April 9 — and includes breakfast and lunch. Registration is $125 at the door, if space permits. Last year the event sold out early.

Other presenters at the all-day conference include: Bruce L. Miller, M.D. professor of neurology at the University of California, San Francisco and clinical director of the Memory and Aging Center at UCSF; Dr. Lisa Hayden, clinical research psychologist at the Greater Los Angeles VA Healthcare System at West Los Angeles; Gary A. Martin, Ph.D., licensed psychologist and a geriatrics/long-term care specialist with Integrated Geriatric Behavioral Health Associates in Scottsdate, Ariz.; Mary C. Shea, senior deputy public Defender at the Ventura county Public Defender’s Office, specializing in conservatorship law; Cheri L. Elson, attorney at law in Ventura County who specializes in conservatorship law, estate planning, probate and special needs trusts; Dr. Linda Hewett, clinical professor at University of California, San Francisco at Fresno and co-director of the Alzheimer’s and Memory Care Center; Juan Manuel Gutierrez, Ph.D., principal, Clinical Neuropsychological Associates of Santa Barbara and a national specialist in clinical, forensic and organizational consultations regarding the brain; Karen Jones, executive director/program director, long term care ombudsman services of San Luis Obispo County; Lisa Snyder, MSW, LCSW, the clinical social worker and director of the Quality of Life Programs for the Shiley-Marcos Alzheimer’s Disease Research Center at the University of California, San Diego., MCDB, and co-director of the Neuroscience Research Institute; and Norman White, M.D., a consultant in geriatric psychiatry in San Luis Obispo.

The Alzheimer’s Association is the leading voluntary health organization in Alzheimer care, support and research. Our mission is to eliminate Alzheimer’s disease through the advancement of research, to provide and enhance care and support for all affected, and to reduce the risk of dementia through the promotion of brain health. Our vision is a world without Alzheimer’s. The California Central Coast Chapter of the association covers San Luis Obispo, Santa Barbara, Ventura and Kern counties. alz.org/cacentralcoast