Thursday
March 7th
Love
On the complexity of love, and its role in motivating action. Is love enough to build global scale care systems?
9.15-9.45am
Welcome
Creative Brain Week’s daily start included a check in, a musical moment and the introduction of the Neuroscience Chorus.
__________
Neuroscience Chorus: we invited diverse experts to draw on their multiple forms of neuroscientific knowledge by reflecting on presentations throughout Creative Brain Week like a wise council or the Greek Chorus in drama.
10.00am–11.00am
When Love Isn’t Enough - Part 1 - Redmond O'Connell and Cissie Fu
- Redmond O’Connell – Professor in Decision Neuroscience, Psychology Professor in Decision Neuroscience at Trinity College Dublin – revealed in Artificial Intelligence desire and the brain. What might the neuroscience of low level brain processes reveal about the workings of human behaviour and the emotional circuitry of love? Has this implications for future care?
- Dr Cissie Fu – Political Theorist and co-founder of the Political Arts Initiative with a performance-presentation on the urgency of and conditions for institutional love. With the support of La Salle College of the Arts Singapore
Contributors
Dr Cissie Fu is a political theorist and co-founder of the Political Arts Initiative which is interested in the ways in which people interact and compose political ideas and actions through technology and the arts.
Born in Hong Kong, Cissie studied, taught, curated and performed across cultural and educational institutions in Asia, Europe, the UK, and the Americas and most recently as Dean of the Faculty of Culture and Community at Emily Carr University of Art + Design in Canada.
With a forthcoming open textbook on cultural production and the law, Cissie is currently completing a monograph on the politics of silence, which draws from artistic practices to resuscitate silence as a positive political concept. Cissie’s practice-led research interests in relational aesthetics and decolonial action, combined with her experiments in experiential and transformative organisational design, inform her approach to institution-building as a creative, critical and communal cultural practice.
Website:
https://www.lasalle.edu.sg/schools/mcnally-school-of-fine-arts
Social Media:
X: @lasallesg
Professor Brian Lawlor (MD, FRCPI, FRCPsych, FTCD (Hon), DABPN) is Conolly Norman Professor of Old Age Psychiatry, and Site Director of the Global Brain Health Institute at Trinity College. He is a geriatric psychiatrist with an interest in dementia, late-life depression, loneliness and brain health. Brian has worked for over 30 years on developing services and delivering care to people with dementia. His research interests range from early detection and prevention to evaluating new treatments for dementia.
Websites:
https://www.understandtogether.ie
https://www.gbhi.org/profiles/brian-lawlor
Social Media:
- Professor in Decision Neuroscience, Trinity College Institute of Neuroscience and School of Psychology (2016 – present)
- Ussher Lecturer and PI, Trinity College Institute of Neuroscience (2011 – 2016)
- Adjunct Research Fellow, Monash University (2013-present)
- Post-doc, Trinity College Dublin, Trinity College Institute of Neuroscience (2008-2011)
- Post-doc, University of Queensland, Queensland Brain Institute (2007-2008)
- PhD, Trinity College Dublin, School of Psychology (2003-2007)
- BA, Trinity College Dublin, School of Psychology (1999-2003)
He is a member of Trinity College Institute of Neuroscience’s Executive Management Committee and of the School Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Committee which recently secured a bronze Athena Award.
Websites:
https://www.tcd.ie/research/profiles/?profile=reoconne
Social Media:
11.00am–12.00pm
When Love Isn’t Enough - Part 2 - Tracey Naledi, John Farrelly and Siobhan McArdle
- Tracey Naledi – Deputy Dean of Health Services University of Cape Town with two decades in technical and management positions in the Government and NGO sectors in South Africa and Botswana explores when love might not be enough.
- Response and discussion with John Farrelly, Chief Executive of the Mental Health Commission and Siobhán McArdle, Assistant Secretary, Social Care, Mental Health, Drugs Policy and Unscheduled Care, Department of Health
Contributors
John Farrelly is a recognised expert in governance and risk-based regulation. He leads Irelands Mental Health Commission and also oversaw the commencement of the Decision Support Service in Ireland. He is a Fellow of the Faculty of Nursing and Midwifery of the Royal College of Surgeons and was educated at the Honourable Society of King’s Inns, Harvard Kennedy School, Smurfit Business School, and University College Dublin. A Dublin native, John has worked in Ireland and the UK in both clinical and executive management positions. Prior to becoming Chief Executive of the Mental Health Commission, John was the first CEO of Ireland’s Charities Regulator, and was deputy Chief Inspector of Social Services in the Health Information and Quality Authority (HIQA).
Website: https://www.mhcirl.ie/
Social:
X: @Farrellyjohnj
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/mentalhealthcommissionirl/
Professor Brian Lawlor (MD, FRCPI, FRCPsych, FTCD (Hon), DABPN) is Conolly Norman Professor of Old Age Psychiatry, and Site Director of the Global Brain Health Institute at Trinity College. He is a geriatric psychiatrist with an interest in dementia, late-life depression, loneliness and brain health. Brian has worked for over 30 years on developing services and delivering care to people with dementia. His research interests range from early detection and prevention to evaluating new treatments for dementia.
Websites:
https://www.understandtogether.ie
https://www.gbhi.org/profiles/brian-lawlor
Social Media:
Tracey Naledi is an Associate Professor of Public Health Medicine and the Deputy Dean: Social Accountability and Health Systems at the Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Cape Town. Tracey has held technical & management positions in Government and NGO sectors in South Africa and Botswana. Her work includes the translation of research into policy and practice, addressing health inequity and strengthening systems for health. Tracey is the Founding Chairperson of Tekano, Atlantic Fellows for Health Equity in South Africa, Chairperson of SHAWCO and the Children’s Institute, a Board Member of the Global Brain Health Institute and the South African Medical Research Council. Tracey is a Discovery Foundation Fellow and the Desmond and Leah Tutu Legacy Foundation Fellow.
Websites:
https://health.uct.ac.za/contacts/tracey-naledi
Social Media:
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/tracey-naledi-3941a528
12.15-1.00pm
Creative Brain Week Living Labs
Daily sessions offered attendees an opportunity to discuss, develop and reflect on the themes of the day through a practice of their choice. Dive deep with peers or try out a new-to-you way to make knowledge.
These sessions reflected the engaged nature of the event.
Sue Mayo – “Breaks and Joins”
Artist and a facilitator lead a creative daily session at Creative Brain Week informed by her work on the repair of our stuff, ourselves and our communities
Trudy Meehan “This is What Love Feels Like?”
Lecturer in Positive Health Science invited participants to explore art based research and practice by supporting participants to make body maps of their experiences of love and care in, on and across our bodies
Mike Hanrahan – Music as Sense Making
As a professional musician with expertise in musical note, pitch, tone, rhythm, melody and frequency Mike’s long been aware of music’s ability to calm or stimulate. Newly informed by neuroscience he was wondering how it can articulate the life of someone living with a diagnosis of dementia. If music reflects the first senses to form, can if reflect them as they change? This Living Lab was a practical journey in music and sound.
Irish Museum of Modern Art – Slow Art Experience
Irish Museum of Modern Art Curator Bairbre-Ann Harkin invited participants to experience a taste of IMMA’s Slow Art Sessions. This Lab explored how slowing down to engage with an artwork encourages us to be present and opens us up to different perspectives.
Bairbre-Ann discussed what IMMA has learned from working with people living with dementia and how this has informed the IMMA Horizons programme. IMMA Horizons Lifelong Creativity for the Curious aims to contribute to new thinking on how creativity can positively impact health and wellbeing through programming and partnerships.

Contributors
It was 1977, Ennis and Doolin were alive with new music. He was in a room on the top floor of a house in Abbey Street creating a new sound with Maura O Connell. They were Tumbleweed. Stocktons Wing were creating a movement down the road on O Connell Street. It was exciting. Maura went to Nashville, he jumped on The Wing Wave ……. It has been a rollercoaster.
As an Atlantic Fellow at the Global Brain Health Institute at Trinity College he has been learning about Dementia and ways he can contribute as an artist to promote equity and care for brain health.
Websites:
https://www.gbhi.org/profiles/mike-hanrahan
Social Media:
https://www.linkedin.com/in/mike-hanrahan-66780946/
Instagram: @mikehanrahanmusic/
Bairbre-Ann Harkin is an art-educator with a particular interest in accessible programming, who facilitates art-looking tours, trainings and workshops for organisations nationally and internationally. Currently IMMA’s Art & Ageing Curator, Harkin formerly completed an internship at the Museum of Modern Art (New York), worked as Access Officer at Dublin Contemporary 2011 and spent six years as Butler Gallery’s Education Curator, where she established one of Ireland’s first dementia-inclusive art-looking programmes and developed and delivered arts education programmes for audiences of all ages and backgrounds. During this time, she became a founding partner of the European Project, ‘Museums, Art & Alzheimer’s’ and the national Azure Network, alongside the Alzheimer Society of Ireland, Age & Opportunity and IMMA.
Websites:
https://imma.ie/learn-engage/families-community/dementia-inclusive/
Social:
X: @IMMAIreland
Sue Mayo is a freelance creative artist and researcher, with a specialism in community based and intergenerational co-creation. Sue has worked with many arts organisations, including the Royal Court, The Young Vic, Magic Me, Tamasha, People United, The Lyric Theatre Belfast, Bealtaine, The Royal Albert Hall, Bristol Old Vic. Her own research-led creative projects include The Gratitude Enquiry, and Breaks & Joins, a project exploring the repair of our stuff, our selves and our communities. Her podcast, Breaks & Joins is now into its 5th series. Sue led the MA in Applied Theatre at Goldsmiths, University of London, from 2012-2022.
Website:
Social:
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sue-mayo-2714b116/?originalSubdomain=uk and https://linktr.ee/breaksandjoins
X: @sue_mayo
Instagram: www.instagram.com/breaks_and_joins
Dr Trudy Meehan is a Chartered Clinical Psychologist with over two decades of experience. Her career spans various life stages, from therapeutic work in Child and Adolescent Mental Health to neuropsychological assessments of older adults.
Currently, as a Lecturer and Director of the Professional Diploma in Positive Health with the RCSI Centre for Positive Health Sciences, Trudy is shaping the future of positive health practices. She is supervising doctoral candidates, fostering the next generation of thought leaders in the application of the arts for health and wellbeing.
Trudy’s innovative approach to research and practice, intertwines the arts with health, and wellbeing, underscoring the transformative power of experiential engagement. Currently delving into the nuances of positive emotions, her research offers fresh perspectives on harnessing our senses to enhance vitality and promote sustained purpose and interconnection. She has made scholarly contributions to the field of clinical formulation and diagnosis in mental health. Trudy has also published on topics such as, tools for positive health, the role of positive emotions, purpose and meaning, and the essential nature of play.
Her tenure as Director of Stanford University’s Overseas Study Programme in Cape Town was marked by her ability to weave connections across continents, integrating academic rigor with real-world applications through partnerships with NGOs, hospitals, and corporations. Her passion for asking the right questions, challenging the boundaries between art and science, and forging collaborative paths is a testament to her commitment to excellence in the field of arts and health.
She is a visual artist and creative writer who has curated and exhibited visual art at the National Arts Festival, Grahamstown, South Africa. She led an art studio and research project in collaboration with the late Mark Hipper from the School of Fine Art at Rhodes University, Grahamstown, South Africa. She has collaborated with the Drama Department at Rhodes University in co-creating a performance about trauma and community for the National Arts Festival. She has also trained in Forum Theatre with Julian Boal and continue to develop her work in this area.
Website:
https://www.rcsi.com/people/profile/trudymeehan
Social:
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/trudy-meehan-phd-a1762b47/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/trudymeehan/
12.15-1.00pm
Creative Brain Week Living Labs
Daily sessions offered attendees an opportunity to discuss, develop and reflect on the themes of the day through a practice of their choice. Dive deep with peers or try out a new-to-you way to make knowledge.
Neuroscience at Noon
Global Brain Health Institute Cohort hosted guests and conversations which explore the themes of the day by weaving diverse disciplines and experience.
Today’s session was led by Elul Lakew and Laz Eze who talked about Creativity and Brain Health in low income communities.
They were joined by Luis Martinez of The Creative Minds project and Community Outreach program at University College San Francisco.
Contributors
Laz Ude Eze is a public health physician, health policy and management specialist and sustainable development consultant with over 15 years working experience in the health sector. He’s the Founder/CEO of TalkHealth9ja – a leading health communications and public health information management firm that partners with the Government of Nigeria and other organisations in increasing health literacy, influencing appropriate health seeking behaviours and health systems strengthening. Laz’s interest in brain health was inspired by the cognitive impairment his dad experienced before his demise. He is currently an Atlantic Fellow for Equity in Brain Health and Co-founder of the Sub-Saharan Africa Brain Health Initiative (SSABHI). He is collaborating with other Fellows to develop a movie project that can help in the understanding of brain health in Africa.
Before now, Laz has worked with national and international institutions in Nigeria, contributing to health reforms, policy development and implementation of health projects on malaria elimination, HIV/AIDS, immunisation, promotion of sexual reproductive health and rights, family planning, and cancer control. During the COVID19 lockdown, he founded the MakeOurHospitalWork Campaign through which he mobilised over 1000 volunteers leading changes in their communities. He also participates actively in health systems research and helping to shape health policies in the West Africa sub-region. Outside the health sector, he is also in the business of leveraging technology to promote creativity and innovation among young people.
Laz had an outstanding academic background having graduated with the Medical Students’ Prize at the University of Ibadan College of Medicine, Nigeria, and John Wiggs Prize for ‘exceeding expectations of his Masters degree program’ at the University of Kentucky College of Public Health. He’s a member of the Omicron Delta Kappa (ODK) National Leadership Honours Society and has received over twenty awards/recognitions in recognition of his leadership and professional accomplishments.
He is currently an Atlantic Fellow for Equity in Brain Health at the Global Brain Health Institute.
Website:
https://www.gbhi.org/profiles/laz-eze
Social Media:
X: @donlaz4u
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/donlaz4u/
Elul is a clinical psychologist and mental health advocate. She sets up and hosts radio and television programs on the issue of mental health. She also utilizes social media platforms to discuss brain health. She is currently an Atlantic Fellow for Equity in Brain Health at the Global Brain Health Institute.
Website:
https://www.gbhi.org/profiles/elul-lakew
Social Media:
X: @ElulDereje
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/elul-dereje-a409941b0/
Luis’ primary purpose is to administer sound clinical judgments and treatment to patients as well as to fellow health professionals seeking his counsel. As a Neurologist, Luis aims to be as accurate as possible in diagnosing neurological disorders via thorough conduct of procedures and in collaboration with other health specialists. One of his objectives is to conduct clinical trials to expand the knowledge base concerning Alzheimer ́s disease and the lesser-known neurological disorders. It is also his goal to develop individualized treatment plans and monitor patients’ progress thoroughly to ensure optimal healthcare delivery.
Websites:
https://luismartinezroman.com/
https://luchomartinezroman6.wixsite.com/neurologo
https://www.gbhi.org/profiles/luis-martinez
Social Media:
X: @drluismartinezr
Instagram: @drluismartinez/
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/luis-eduardo-martinez-roman-5504531a5/
2.00-2.30pm
Made from Love - 1- Sue Mayo, Breaks and Joins
A suite of case studies suggesting how a loving marriage between neuroscience-informed care and creativity may nurture the evolved systems of health care of the future.
Sue Mayo’s Breaks & Joins is a wide ranging participatory project about repair—how we repair ourselves, our stuff and our communities, and how we live with what can’t be mended, and break what must be broken. Led by a theatre maker, facilitator and researcher working across art forms, who specializes in participatory and collaborative work
For more information on this work, please see the Breaks and Joins website here

Contributors
Sue Mayo is a freelance creative artist and researcher, with a specialism in community based and intergenerational co-creation. Sue has worked with many arts organisations, including the Royal Court, The Young Vic, Magic Me, Tamasha, People United, The Lyric Theatre Belfast, Bealtaine, The Royal Albert Hall, Bristol Old Vic. Her own research-led creative projects include The Gratitude Enquiry, and Breaks & Joins, a project exploring the repair of our stuff, our selves and our communities. Her podcast, Breaks & Joins is now into its 5th series. Sue led the MA in Applied Theatre at Goldsmiths, University of London, from 2012-2022.
Website:
Social:
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sue-mayo-2714b116/?originalSubdomain=uk and https://linktr.ee/breaksandjoins
X: @sue_mayo
Instagram: www.instagram.com/breaks_and_joins
2.30-3.00pm
Made from Love - 2 - The Keepsake Chronicles
A suite of case studies suggesting how a loving marriage between neuroscience-informed care and creativity may nurture the evolved systems of health care of the future.
Keepsake Chronicles
Professor of Clinical Nursing at Dublin City University, a Peruvian photographer, an Irish poet and people living with dementia work together from the conviction that “stories are data with a soul”
- Alex Kornhuber
- Kate Irving
- Cathy Fowley

Contributors
Cathy is a writer and poet; in her workshops, she helps older people gather stories and celebrate them. For Cathy, stories are the way we communicate with each other, the way we understand what it is to be in this world. Stories shared with others in a group often spark other stories, making us feel closer to each other.
Cathy’s love of writing started when she realised that by holding a pencil, you could make letters, and that letters would eventually make stories. She went on to study languages and literature. Later in life, she wrote a PhD thesis on young people’s online diaries, which led to a renewed interest in life-writing and memoirs. She has since designed and taught several courses on memoir writing for older people, and edited several books of collected stories and memoirs.
Website:
Social:
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/cathy-fowley-2855804/
X: @cathyfowley and @silverthread_ie
Kate is a Professor of Clinical Nursing, Dublin City University and she cares for her mother with dementia. For Kate as an academic and nurse, stories are data with a soul that help her connect to patients and relatives.
She completed her PhD in 2001 at Curtin University of Technology, Western Australia. This thesis was entitled: Case studies in restraint use. Kate has a significant leadership role Irish dementia policy development and successfully led the national Dementia training initiative: Dementia Skills Elevator, aiming to develop dementia skills capacity in services and communities. Kate has led several European research consortiums in dementia prevention and approaches to care and support. Kate currently teaches the practice development module in Dementia and Ethics in Nursing on the under graduate curriculum.
Website:
https://www.dcu.ie/snpch/people/kate-irving
Social Media:
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kate-irving-08b6a521/
X: @IrvingKate
Instagram: @kateirving24
Alex is a documentary photographer, specializing in intimate, human stories. He uses still photography, video and sound to capture the essence of those transitory and profoundly human moments. For Alex, stories are a way to create empathy by connecting people.
Born and raised in Lima, Alex became interested in photography during his university studies at Ohio University in the United States where he graduated with a BA in Fine Arts.
In 1998 Alex left Peru to pursue a career as a freelance photojournalist, spending two years covering the war in Kosovo before relocating to Zurich, Switzerland. In Zurich, Alex covered stories in Latin America, Africa and Switzerland for newspapers and magazines such as Du, Tages Anzeiger Magazine and Spiegel. He also photographed a project on diverse Latino groups that was exhibited in Zurich, Lima, Santiago de Chile and Buenos Aires.
In 2004 Alex returned to Lima and began exploring the beauty of Peru most notably “Faces of Peru,” a lyrical document of the country’s people and photographed the culture of Pisco, Peru’s famous grape brandy. Alex is one of the founders of Hidden Planet Expeditions and is a photography expert/coach on many of the trips.
Alex is an Atlantic Fellow for Equity in Brain Health at the Global Brain Health Institute and is fluent in Spanish, English and Brazilian Portuguese.
Websites:
https://www.alex-kornhuber.com
https://www.gbhi.org/profiles/alex-kornhuber
Social Media:
3.00-3.30pm
Made from Love - 3 - The Quiet Path
A suite of case studies suggesting how a loving marriage between neuroscience-informed care and creativity may nurture the evolved systems of health care of the future.
The Quiet Path
A staff-initiated programme of gentle space, guidance and care of perinatal loss in the women’s and children’s services of Cavan and Monaghan Hospitals indicates ways that the acute services we inherit can evolve to provide contemporary care.
- Louise Dempsey

Contributors
Louise Dempsey is a registered Children’s Nurse, trained in Queens University of Belfast. She specialised in the care of infants and neonates in the Intensive Care Units in the University of London and worked within this speciality in Great Ormond Street Children’s Hospital in London and then the Our Lady’s Hospital for Sick Children in Crumlin in Dublin (currently known as Children’s Health Ireland at Crumlin.) In 2012 she achieved a Master’s degree in bereavement and Loss with the Irish Hospice Foundation and the Royal College of Surgeons of Ireland, while she worked at a senior member of the Special Care baby Unit in Cavan and Monaghan Hospitals.
In 2015 she took the role of the Clinical Nurse Specialist for Bereavement in Women and Children’s services in Cavan and Monaghan hospitals supporting and caring for families experiencing pregnancy, infant and sudden or unexpected childhood losses.
Her work has included the creation of ‘The Quiet Path’ – a set of dedicated spaces, philosophies and guidance for families experiencing loss during pregnancy, around the time of birth or in infancy.
3.30-4.00pm
Made from Love - an overview from Christopher Bailey of the World Health Organisation
WHO Arts and Health
WHO Arts and Health lead Christopher Bailey was on tour around Ireland for Creative Brain Week visiting local programmes where creativity and science combine for improved care. In the closing moments of Creative Brain Week 24 he reflected on how local experience connects with global issues. Is it ultimately about love?
Christopher Bailey in conversation with Dominic Campbell

Contributors
Christopher Bailey is the Arts and Health Lead at the World Health Organization and a co-founder of the Jameel Arts and Health Lab. The lab is looking at the evidence base for the health benefits of the arts by building up a global network of research centers to look at effective practice as well as the foundational science of why the arts may benefit physical, mental and social wellbeing. The emphasis of the program is supporting underserved communities around the world. Through its Healing Arts activities, he program also engages with the global media to promote pro health messaging and build solidarity on health issues through all media. Educated at Columbia and Oxford Universities as well as the American Academy of Dramatic Arts, after a career as a professional actor and playwright, Christopher joined the Rockefeller Foundation as their Research Manager, and from there was recruited to WHO where he lead the Health Informatics work and later their on-line communications team before starting the Arts and Health program. As an ambassador for the field, he has also performed original pieces such as Stage 4: Cancer and the Imagination, and The Vanishing Point: A journey into Blindness and Perception, in venues around the world from the Hamwe Festival in Rwanda, to the Wellcome Collection in London, to the World Bank in DC, as well as Lincoln Center in NY, the LA Opera, LACMA, and Warner Bros Studios in LA, and the Conservatory of Music in San Francisco among many others. The basic message of his work is to amplify the WHO definition of health which states that health is not merely the absence of disease and infirmity, but the attainment of the highest level of physical, mental and social wellbeing.
Website:
https://www.who.int/initiatives/arts-and-health
Social Media:
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/christopher-bailey-21072050
Dominic Campbell is leading the Creative Brain Week initiative. As Bealtaine Festival Director he steered its celebration of creativity and aging’s development over eight years. Formerly an Artistic Director of Ireland’s national celebration he transformed St Patrick’s Festival’s three shows into ninety growing production, managerial teams, financial support, engagement and impact.
Dominic went on to design and produce national celebrations marking the expansion of European Union in 2004 and Centenary celebrations for James Joyce. For “The Day Of Welcomes” delivering 12 simultaneous festivals pairing EU expansion countries with Irish towns and cities engaging 2,500 artists from 32 countries.
He mentored “celebration of ageing” festivals in Wales (Gwanwynn), Scotland (Luminate), and developed projects with partners in Australia and The Netherlands. In 2012 he established the first global conference on Creativity In Older Age opened by Irish President Michael D Higgins, replicating it in San Francisco (2018) and Kentucky (2019).
Recognized as a key cultural influencer in Ireland by The Irish Times and by First Avenue as a Key Influencer in Aging in the US, in 2016 he became an inaugural Atlantic Fellow for Equity and Brain Health at the Global Brain Health Institute a project between Trinity College Dublin and University of California San Francisco an ambitious worldwide program seeking social and public health solutions to reduce the scale and adverse impact of dementia. Currently developing an arts programme for the Irish Hospice Foundation as response to the pandemic and the Ageing Voices programme with Sing Ireland.
Website:
www.creativeaginginternational.com
www.gbhi.org/profiles/dominic-campbell
Social:
X: @CreativeAgeIntl and @CreativeBrainWk and @IrelandChorus
4.15-5.00pm
Concluding Session
A review of the week where we reflected on some of the emerging themes and provocations, including the response to Tanisha Hill-Jarrett’s challenge posed on Tuesday, a poetic reflection on Creative Brain Week 2024 by Morag Anderson and our Global Brain Health Institute hosts, Brian Lawlor and Ian Robertson, reviewed and looked forward.

Contributors
Morag Anderson is a Scottish poet based in Highland Perthshire. Her debut chapbook, Sin Is Due to Open in a Room Above Kitty’s is published by Fly on the Wall Press (2021) and her second chapbook, And I Will Make of You a Vowel Sound, will be published in May 2024. Exploring the many contradictions of life lived in the female body, Morag’s poetry navigates womanhood and its attendant desires and abuses, permitting the reader to embrace the power and vulnerability encased in the female form.
Her poetry has appeared in literary journals and anthologies including Butcher’s Dog, Finished Creatures, Gutter, The Scotsman, Popshot Quarterly, Beyond the Swelkie, Cruinneachadh, and Best Scottish Poems 2021. The Scottish Poetry Library commissioned Morag to respond to the life and works of Nan Shepherd and Robert Burns.
She won the Aryamati Poetry Chapbook Prize 2023, was placed in the Oxford Brookes International Poetry Competition 2021, the Edwin Morgan Trust Competition 2021, the Blue Nib Chapbook VI Contest, was twice shortlisted for the Bridport Poetry Prize, won Over the Edge New Poet (2018) and the Clochoderick Prize 2018. In 2021, she collaborated with three other poets on How Bright the Wings Drive Us, which won the Dreich Alliance Chapbook competition.
In 2023, Morag was the Makar of the Federation of Writers (Scotland) and poet-in-residence for the Birnam Book Festival. She was featured poet at the 2022 Emily Dickinson Museum Phosphorescence Poetry Reading Series, the 2019 Yehuda Amichai International Poetry Festival in Galway.
Morag is currently working on her first poetry collection.
Website:
https://www.scottishpoetrylibrary.org.uk/poet/morag-anderson/
Social:
Instagram: @morag_caimbeul
Dominic Campbell is leading the Creative Brain Week initiative. As Bealtaine Festival Director he steered its celebration of creativity and aging’s development over eight years. Formerly an Artistic Director of Ireland’s national celebration he transformed St Patrick’s Festival’s three shows into ninety growing production, managerial teams, financial support, engagement and impact.
Dominic went on to design and produce national celebrations marking the expansion of European Union in 2004 and Centenary celebrations for James Joyce. For “The Day Of Welcomes” delivering 12 simultaneous festivals pairing EU expansion countries with Irish towns and cities engaging 2,500 artists from 32 countries.
He mentored “celebration of ageing” festivals in Wales (Gwanwynn), Scotland (Luminate), and developed projects with partners in Australia and The Netherlands. In 2012 he established the first global conference on Creativity In Older Age opened by Irish President Michael D Higgins, replicating it in San Francisco (2018) and Kentucky (2019).
Recognized as a key cultural influencer in Ireland by The Irish Times and by First Avenue as a Key Influencer in Aging in the US, in 2016 he became an inaugural Atlantic Fellow for Equity and Brain Health at the Global Brain Health Institute a project between Trinity College Dublin and University of California San Francisco an ambitious worldwide program seeking social and public health solutions to reduce the scale and adverse impact of dementia. Currently developing an arts programme for the Irish Hospice Foundation as response to the pandemic and the Ageing Voices programme with Sing Ireland.
Website:
www.creativeaginginternational.com
www.gbhi.org/profiles/dominic-campbell
Social:
X: @CreativeAgeIntl and @CreativeBrainWk and @IrelandChorus
Tanisha Hill-Jarrett, PhD, is a neuropsychologist, Global Atlantic Fellow for Equity in Brain Health, and an Assistant Professor of Neurology at the University of California San Francisco Memory and Aging Center. Her research applies intersectionality theory to understand how psychosocial stressors and structural racism and sexism impact Black women’s cognitive aging and confer risk for Alzheimer’s disease and related dementias (ADRD). She is additionally interested in improving the measurement and tracking of adverse social exposures to better understand how they shape cognitive aging trajectories and association with incident ADRD among Black older adults. As a scientist and clinician, she is committed to making wellness and brain health accessible and participates in the Memory and Aging Center Black/African American Community Outreach Team. Dr. Hill-Jarrett uses Afrofuturism in her community-based work with Black women as a framework to create counternarratives and reimage the future through a lens of hope. She seeks to incorporate Afrofuturism and creative practices as tools for brain health among community-dwelling Black elders and a praxis that drives social change and centers on aging Black women.
Websites:
https://www.tanishahilljarrett.com
https://www.gbhi.org/profiles/tanisha-hill-jarrett
Social:
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/tanisha-hill-jarrett-ph-d-5b258aba/
Professor Brian Lawlor (MD, FRCPI, FRCPsych, FTCD (Hon), DABPN) is Conolly Norman Professor of Old Age Psychiatry, and Site Director of the Global Brain Health Institute at Trinity College. He is a geriatric psychiatrist with an interest in dementia, late-life depression, loneliness and brain health. Brian has worked for over 30 years on developing services and delivering care to people with dementia. His research interests range from early detection and prevention to evaluating new treatments for dementia.
Websites:
https://www.understandtogether.ie
https://www.gbhi.org/profiles/brian-lawlor
Social Media:
Ian Robertson is a Founding Director of the Global Brain Health Institute and Emeritus Professor of Psychology at Trinity College Dublin. He is co-leader of the BrainHealth Project (Center for BrainHealth UTDallas) and is a Member of Academia Europaea and of the Royal Irish Academy. He is widely known for his research on neuropsychology and his science writing has included books aimed at the general reader: Mind Sculpture (2000), The Mind’s Eye (2003), Stay Sharp (2005), The Winner Effect (2012) and The Stress Test (2016), all of which have been widely translated. His most recent book How Confidence Works was published by Penguin in 2022.
Websites:
https://www.gbhi.org/profiles/ian-robertson
Social:
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ian-robertson-4480502/