Friday, Sept. 5, 2025

Have a news story, publication, event or staff highlight for us? Submit it by 5 p.m. Sept. 12 here.

Welcome back to campus and the fall semester. If you are receiving this newsletter, it's because you are associated with the Life Span Institute, its centers or lab research groups. LSI Connections, as the name implies, is intended to connect researchers, staff and students. We share news and resources, synthesize university and federal updates that affect the research community, and celebrate accomplishments. Please let us know if you have new people in your group to be added to the mailing list, and as always, we welcome submissions of publications, grant news, activities, kudos and shout-outs. 

The next edition of LSI Connections will have information and updates about recent federal executive orders, proposed changes in facilities and administration costs (F&A), and other news that may affect your work. -Jen

Jen Humphrey, associate director for strategic communications

When school is over, what's next for graduating students? Transitioning from high school to career, college, or community living is a critical period for young adults, particularly for individuals with intellectual or developmental disabilities (IDD).  

A project at the KU Life Span Institute, My Transition My Career (MTMC), aims to enhance transition from high school outcomes for youth with disabilities by enriching communication and collaboration between community service providers in local communities. These local collaborations can enhance the employment opportunities and supports for youth as well as connect families to the resources they need to support their youth’s transition from high school. Led by researchers at the KU Center on Disabilities (KUCD) through a federal grant, the five-year project builds on years of KU research on employment and transition from high school.  

Since it launched in 2021, the MTMC program has provided nearly 600 youth and their family members with career development, financial planning and other resources through local transition services events. Program activities such as reverse job fairs have so far connected 451 Kansas youth to potential employers in their communities... 

Continue reading about MTMC

With an aim to share the wide variety of advances in technology including smart home technology, Meta Glasses and accessible gaming, University of Kansas staff will offer the public an opportunity to explore technology options for work, home, employment and recreation at an upcoming fair in Topeka.  

Specialists from Assistive Technology for Kansans (ATK) will offer the AT Fair from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Sept. 9 at the Topeka & Shawnee County Public Library, Room 123, 1515 SW 10th Ave. Individuals can drop by the fair any time to learn about tools designed to make daily tasks more functional and enjoyable. 

Abby Azeltine, ATK director, said event attendees can test devices, check out hands-on demonstrations and speak to specialists about options. 

“Technology offers so many ways to make the world more accessible — from smart home tools that let you control your lights with your voice or a tap on your phone to devices that make it easier to take your medication, to solutions that help you hear your TV more clearly,” Azeltine said... 

Continue reading about Sept. 9 Fair

In August, a research group headed by Investigator Lyndsie Koon participated in the Midwest Ability Summit in Kansas City. Purchasing booth space helped them recruit individuals to their research registry and showcase the Adaptive Athletes in Motion program, a collaborative community-based initiative that promotes inclusive fitness opportunities. "This event allowed us to connect directly with potential participants, build community partnerships, and increase visibility for both our research and programmatic work," Koon said. 
 

KU Faculty Affairs recently announced the names of faculty who in fall 2025 have new roles associated with the KU Life Span Institute:

Jessica Powers, assistant professor of psychology and assistant scientist at the Cofrin Logan Center for Addiction Research and Treatment (see related article)

Ashley Taconet, assistant research professor, Kansas University Center on Disabilities 

Lindsay Rentschler, assistant research professor, Kansas University Center on Disabilities 

Samantha Goldman, research assistant professor, working with Sean Smith's research group

Melissa Peterson, assistant research professor, Juniper Gardens Children's Project

KSAL FM (Salina) picked up a story LSI staff produced about a $1 million investment from the Kansas Department of Aging and Disability Services for a supportive technology grant being led by Shea Tanis of the State of the States in Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities and Abby Azeltine of Assitive Technology for Kansans.  

Noting Mead Johnson's 120th anniversary, an article in AInvest cited research by John Colombo and colleagues that led to global changes in infant formula.

Clinical Trials Finder meeting today, 11 a.m. Sept. 5: A One KU task force of KU-Lawrence and KU Medical Center staff began meeting this summer about a proposal to create a single KU online portal for clinical trial participant recruitment. If realized, the platform would allow the public to browse available trials fed by information submitted by researchers on all campuses. Jen Humphrey and Lisa Hallberg serve on this committee and are seeking information from Life Span Institute investigators to inform the process. Researchers have been invited to discuss the proposal and identify needs for the development of the future website. The meeting is at 11 a.m. Friday, Sept. 5 on Zoom (code: 812120). 

The Cofrin Logan Center for Addiction Research and Treatment will offer its first seminar of the the 2025 fall semester 11:30 a.m.-12:30 p.m. Friday, September 12th in person in Dole HDC 1031. Joshua Grubbs, associate professor at the University of New Mexico, will present, "A Risky Bet? A Longitudinal Consideration of Sports Gambling and Alcohol Use." The talk will explore the rapid rise of sports gambling in the U.S. and its growing prevalence, as well as the emerging links between sports gambling and alcohol-related problems. A link for livestream remote viewing will be available on the day of the event on the center's events page.

Headshots: Do you need a new headshot? Contact Drew Rosdahl to schedule a portrait for use on your center or lab website. 

Communications cabinet meeting: An LSI communications group will begin meeting this fall to share information and support communications and content creation efforts across the Life Span Institute's centers and lab groups. Meetings may be quarterly, depending on needs. The first meetup will be at 3 p.m. Sept. 22 via Zoom. Anyone with a role in creating content for the public audiences (web, social media, print, events, science communication, graphic design, newsletters, recruitment and marketing, etc.) is welcome to attend. Ask for a calendar invitation. 

Juniper Gardens Children's Project encourages the LSI community to attend the 3rd annual Garden Party, 3–6 p.m. Thursday October 16 at Juniper Gardens in Kansas City, Kan.:

Virtual Town Halls for the Lawrence campus: The next KU Lawrence campus town hall hosted by Provost Barbara Bichelmeyer will be 1 p.m. Sept. 18 via the Provost's web page. Additional town hall dates for the fall semester include Nov. 20 and Dec. 18. 

KU Marketing and KU IT have announced that all KU websites using the current content management system will undergo automatic styling updates on Monday, Sept. 15 to reflect the new KU brand, Towering Toward the Blue. Styling updates will affect the fonts, colors, buttons and graphic elements on Sunflower CMS sites. These changes will not alter content, functionality, or navigation on KU web pages. If your research project website is not a KU CMS site, you will not be affected by this update. Site administrators have the opportunity to preview the changes now by logging into the CMS to look at their website. If you have custom CSS styling on your site, there is a chance that the custom coding will not work with the new styling. If you know that you have custom CSS styling on your site, please reach out to KU IT for assistance. 

Connections is produced by strategic communications staff at the Life Span Institute for affiliated researchers, staff and students. 

Writing and editing by Jen Humphrey and Christina Knott.
Image credits: KUCD, Assistive Technology for Kansans, Christina Knott, Lyndsie Koon, and KU Marketing.

Please submit news, kudos, achievements and other items for consideration here.

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