Dr. Shelly Weaverdyck, director of the Alzheimer's Education and Research Program at Eastern Michigan University, will discuss dementia in a Bluffton University Forum at 11 a.m. Tuesday, Feb. 7, in Yoder Recital Hall.

"When the Brain Goes Awry: Effects of Brain Quirks and Disorders on Thinking and Doing" is the title of the Bluffton alumna's presentation, which is free and open to the public.

Weaverdyck, who earned a bachelor's degree in psychology from Bluffton in 1977, founded the Alzheimer's Research Program at Eastern Michigan and has served as director since 1991. Until recently, she was also a dementia specialist at the Turner Geriatric Clinic at the University of Michigan, where she has taught and been a researcher and consultant as well.

Among other publications, Weaverdyck collaborated on a 2005 book, "Teaching Dementia Care," published by Johns Hopkins University Press, and contributed a chapter on assessment to another book, "Key Elements of Dementia Care," published by the national Alzheimer's Association.