The 2021 International Brain and Ocular Nutrition (BON) Conference was held online on the 8th September. It was hosted by the Nutrition Research Centre Ireland (NRCI) and chaired by Professor George Perry – Editor-in-Chief Journal of Alzheimer’s Disease.

There were three presentations:

Research Background and Rationale by Professor Ríona Mulcahy of the University Hospital, Waterford.

Results from the CARES project by Dr Rebecca Power of the NRCI,
which discussed targeted nutritional supplementation for both healthy older adults and patients with mild cognitive impairment.

Results from the reMIND project by Professor John Nolan, Director of the NRCI,
which discussed targeted nutritional supplementation for patients with Alzheimer’s disease.

Both the CARES and reMIND projects were funded by the Howard Foundation.

The presentations are available for viewing to members of the BON Conference.

The Irish Times and the Irish Examiner carried reports from the presentations. Click on the image of each report to read it on the newspaper website.

In 2009, Dr Alan Howard met John Nolan, then a PhD scientist, at a conference in Florida. Over the next 11 years, Dr Howard and Professor Nolan, as he is now, conducted significant research into eye and brain health. 

On Friday 10th September at 15.30 in Ireland, Professor Nolan, Howard Chair in Human Nutrition at WIT and the founder/director of the Nutrition Research Centre Ireland, presented the inaugural Alan Howard Memorial Lecture at the Waterford Institute of Technology.

The Waterford Institute of Technology have announced that this will be the start of an annual series of lectures, given by invited speakers, in memory of Dr Howard who was awarded an WIT Honorary Fellowship in 2019.

For a review of the events relating to Dr Howards contributions to the work at the Nutrition Research Centre Ireland, read the interview with Dr Howard from 2018.

Research Features is an online service bringing information on current research topics to a general audience. It has recently published an article by Professor John Nolan, the Howard Chair in Human Nutrition and Rebecca Power, a Howard Research Fellow, both at the Nutrition Research Centre Ireland (NRCI) which is part of the Waterford Institute of Technology.

The article The power of diet in protecting the ageing brain summarises both current and ongoing research into how nutrition supports brain health. It states that “It is thought that around a third of Alzheimer’s cases could be avoided if lifestyle changes are implemented“.

Click here to read the paper on the Research Features website from which a PDF copy can be downloaded.