Thanks for Joining Us!
Thank you for joining the Osher Lifelong Learning Institute (OLLI) for one or more of this year's At-the-U Lectures. We hope you learned something new about the work and research taking place at the University of Minnesota.
Missed a lecture? Want to share a lecture with family and friends? You’ll find all five recordings on this page.
Not an OLLI member and like what you see? You can learn more about OLLI and the benefits of membership on the OLLI website.
Lectures and Speakers
May 1: Cutting-Edge Cancer Therapies
Specificity is the Holy Grail of cancer therapy. If a therapy kills only the malignant cells, and not the healthy ones, then side effects are minimized and cures are increased. In this session, we will discuss the basics of cancer therapy and cutting-edge approaches in patient-specific cancer care. These approaches include pharmacogenomics (prescribing drugs based on genetics) and immunotherapy (using the immune system to attack cancer).
Christopher Pennell, PhD, is the associate director of education of the Masonic Cancer Center. His research explores tumor immunology (interactions between tumors and the immune system) and tumor immunotherapy (how the immune system can be exploited to treat malignant tumors).
Lecture Recordings
Plant-Based Foods and The American Diet
Oat milk, almond milk, Impossible Burger, and Beyond Beef—the number of plant-based meat and dairy alternative products available seems to increase each day. Drs. Lisa Harnack and Abby Johnson will discuss the nutritional content of these products in the context of the American diet. They will also dive into public policy issues, including how these products are incorporated into the national dietary guidelines, and how regulators are developing labeling rules to help consumers make informed choices at the grocery store.
Dr. Lisa Harnack is the director of the Nutrition Coordinating Center and professor and interim head of the Division of Epidemiology and Community Health at the University of Minnesota.
Dr. Abigail Johnson is the associate director of Nutrition and Community Health and an assistant professor in the Division of Epidemiology and Community Health at the University of Minnesota.
Presented April 3, 2025.
April 10: Identifying and Seeking Solutions to Rural Health Issues
In this session, Dr. Henning-Smith will provide an overview of the work of the Rural Health Research Center and the Rural Health Program. She will share recent research findings related to rural health policy, including factors that influence healthcare workforce decisions to practice in rural areas, rural/urban differences in medical debt, and barriers to accessing care in rural areas.
Dr. Carrie Henning-Smith is co-director of the University of Minnesota Rural Health Research Center.
Presented April 10, 2025.
April 17: Hearing Issues Across the Lifespan
Hearing can take more effort as the years go by, becoming a barrier to connecting with the world around us. Results from laboratory studies at the University of Minnesota and other research demonstrates how issues with hearing can cause us us to avoid socializing and staying active. This makes untreated hearing loss a key risk factor in cognitive decline—an important issue for individuals and their families. In this session, we’ll discuss the challenges in treating hearing problems, methods to convince family members to act on hearing decline, and ways we can improve our hearing with technology and listening strategies.
Dr. Matthew Winn is an associate professor of Audiology at the University of Minnesota who is dedicated to conducting research that is motivated by patient concerns, as well as improving scientific communication skills in junior scientists. He directs the Listen Lab, which focuses on speech communication and the factors that make it difficult for people with hearing loss, particularly those with cochlear implants.
April 24: Understanding the Present Media Environment: Why Trust in the News has Declined Around the World
In this session, Profession Benjamin Toff will discuss his recent work leading a multi-year project that examines changes in trust in journalism in Brazil, India, the United Kingdom, and the United States. These markets include a wide range of media systems and political contexts, and account for more than one billion internet users. The project’s goal has been to understand what is driving declines in trust among the public in different environments, and to identify evidence-based recommendations that publishers and platforms may use to rebuild eroded trust.
Dr. Benjamin Toff is an associate professor and director of the Minnesota Journalism Center, and a Cowles Fellow in Political Journalism at the Hubbard School of Journalism and Mass Communication at the University of Minnesota.
Series Sponsor
Thank you to our Series sponsor!
