Scientists and students celebrate healthy aging with annual Feast for your Brain

TUCSON, Ariz. (KGUN) — Families in Tucson and Southern Arizona will have an opportunity to meet scientists diving into the latest brain health research.

Some of them are professors working at the University of Arizona. While they think of the best ways to feed our brain, university students are also out connect with local seniors, asking them to join a major new national research study on aging and precision medicine.

Carolina Carrasco said her perspective on aging changed after she took a class that U of A research dean Dr. Zhao Chen leads. "We just focused a lot on healthy aging and specifically Tai Chi — tying it into cognitive health," Carrasco said. "As a young person in college, you're kind of not really thinking of (you) as you age."

The courses and conversations only motivated Carrasco to get more involved in the school's chapter of the Precision Aging Network (PAN). Tomás Nuño, Ph.D., is one of PAN's faculty mentors at U of A. As a professor and epidemiologist, Nuño said he's devoted much of his career to advancing precision medicine.

"(It's) everything," he said. "Our genes, our environment, our lifestyle will all be taken into account to decide what's the right treatment for us. Prevention is my passion: if we can prevent diseases and however we can do that," he said.

Nuño and Carrasco, U of A PAN's program coordinator, are also part of the team that put together the annual Feast for your Brain.
This year, the group is branching out beyond the campus bubble and hosting their party at the El Rio Neighborhood Center on Speedway, Sat. Oct. 19 from 10 a.m. - 4 p.m.

"Humans are, by just nature, social creatures," Carrasco said. "The pandemic did really highlight the importance of having that strong, innate connection to their community: to family, to friends, whatever your social support is."

For Carrasco, Nuño and PAN, the feast is also an opportunity to invite local seniors ages 50 to 79 to join a new national study called Healthy Minds for Life. Nuño said their goal, in collaboration with eight other universities across the U.S., is to unlock the factors — biomarkers — that have helped some older neighbors stay mentally sharp at an older age.

"If you have a car, you get an older car, which car would you study?" Nuño said. "The one that's been damaged and beat up, or the one that's running?"

Looking toward the future of precision medicine, Nuño also said the University of Arizona and Banner Health are teaming up for another new study looking at the opposite end of the life spectrum.
The All of Us program is looking for families with babies up to 4 years old. Doctors would follow their health markers for years, to see how they develop over time based on genetics, diet and environment.