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ST. LOUIS, March 15, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- There are more than 80 million households in the U.S. with pets¹, and Purina Pro Plan wants to empower these dog and cat owners to think differently about their pet's nutritional needs as they age and make proactive choices to help them live long, healthy lives.  Leading experts in pet aging from Purina Pro Plan‎, an innovator in pet nutrition, will present research and insights about healthy aging in pets and the benefits of pet ownership for older adults at the American Society on Aging's Annual 'Aging in America' Conference in Chicago on Wednesday, March 22. The general session, "Better Together: Healthy Aging for Pets and People," will be presented at the Hyatt Regency, from 11:00 a.m. – 12:00 p.m. CST.

Purina Pro Plan will be the only pet care brand represented at the American Society on Aging's Annual 'Aging in America' Conference, the largest multidisciplinary conference covering issues of aging and quality of life for older adults. Humans and pets face similar issues related to aging, including cognitive health and looking for ways to expand their healthspan – which researchers define as the period of life spent in good health. The brand will spotlight pioneering research that shows how nutrition can positively impact canine cognitive health and feline longevity and the development of breakthrough nutritional innovations in two senior dog and cat formulas – Pro Plan BRIGHT MIND Adult 7+ and Pro Plan PRIME PLUS Adult 7+. Finally, experts will discuss what this research might teach us about human healthy aging and how this can impact the lives of older adults and their relationships with their pets.

Presenters include:

• Dr. Matt Kaeberlein, PhD, Professor of Pathology, University of Washington & Co-Founder of the Dog Aging Project.  Dr. Kaeberlein is one of the leading pet aging experts in the world and co-founder of the Dog Aging Project, a research organization dedicated to promoting healthy aging in people and their companion animals. In addition, Dr. Kaeberlein is the co-Director of the University of Washington Nathan Shock Center of Excellence in the Basic Biology of Aging and the founding Director of the Healthy Aging and Longevity Research Institute. He has been recognized with several awards, including Breakthroughs in Gerontology Award from the Glenn Foundation, an Alzheimer's Association Young Investigator Award, an Ellison Medical Foundation New Scholar in Aging Award, an Undergraduate Research Mentor of the Year Award and a Murdock Trust Award.

• Dr. Steven S. Hannah, PhD, Director of Molecular Nutrition, Nestle Purina Petcare. Dr. Hannah earned a Doctor of Philosophy in Nutrition and Physiological Chemistry from the University of California in Davis, California in 1993. He continued his training at the University of California in Riverside, California, as recipient of the Postdoctoral Research Award in Cellular and Molecular Endocrinology from the National Institutes of Diabetes, Endocrinology and Metabolic Diseases. Dr. Hannah has authored more than thirty scientific and technical publications. Dr. Hannah joined Purina in 1995 where he developed a research program focused on molecular nutrition approaches to orthopedics, food allergy and aging.

• Dr. Zara Boland, BVSc, BE, MRCVS, Veterinarian & Research Scientist, Nestle Purina Petcare. Dr. Boland is a veterinarian from Ireland with international experience and a global role at Purina. Her focus of work is communicating nutritional science and cutting edge innovations in pet care to international key opinion leaders, academic thought leaders, veterinarians, pet professionals and pet owners.  She has a strong interest in pet food nutrition, animal behavior and the human-animal bond and has previously provided consultancy services for both the pet food and veterinary pharmaceutical industries. Dr. Boland has also been featured as a pet expert in the UK on ITV, Sky TV and BBC World and in the USA on various local TV stations as well as NBC's Access Hollywood Live talking about the benefits of pet ownership.

• Dr. Gerardo Perez-Camargo, PhD, DVM, Global Pet Welfare and Behavior Manager, Nestle Purina Petcare. Dr. Perez-Camargo is a veterinarian from Spain with a PhD in Applied Biochemistry and Food Science from Nottingham University in the UK.  For over 20 years, he has studied how nutrition can help cats and dogs have healthy, long lives. He is particularly interested in researching the interactions between nutrition and disease. Dr. Perez-Camargo has been published several times in the International Journal of Applied Research in Veterinary Medicine and has 6 granted patents related to the use of nutrition to improve health and deliver digestive benefits for cats and dogs.

Is Your Pet's Food Keeping His Mind and Body Healthy?

Following more than a decade of research, Purina Pro Plan discovered how to help promote brain health through nutrition, and in 2015, introduced Purina Pro Plan BRIGHT MIND® Adult 7+ dry formulas. Around age seven, the glucose metabolism in a dog's brain begins to change, which can affect memory, learning, awareness or decision making. Purina Pro Plan BRIGHT MIND Adult 7+ formulas feature enhanced botanical oils shown to promote alertness and mental sharpness in dogs seven and older to naturally nourish their minds and help them think more like they did when they were younger. In 2016, the brand introduced BRIGHT MIND Adult formulas, which feature a proprietary blend of brain-supporting nutrients that support cognitive health in adult dogs.  

Like dogs, cats also begin to experience changes around age seven. In cats, these changes can affect different aspects of their health such as immune and digestive systems, body weight and skin condition.  In a nine-year Purina study, cats exclusively fed a complete daily diet containing a proprietary blend of nutrients from age 7 on lived longer versus cats fed the complete diet alone.  This proprietary blend is now available in new Purina Pro Plan PRIME PLUS Adult 7+ formulas.

Purina Pro Plan formulas are available at pet specialty retailers nationwide and on Amazon.com. For more information, visit www.ProPlan.com.

About Purina Pro Plan

At Purina Pro Plan, we are redefining what pet nutrition can do so you can help your pet live their best life possible. Our wide range of dry foods, wet foods and snacks for dogs and cats, sold exclusively at pet specialty stores, can be found in specialized platforms formulated for your pet's unique needs. For more information, visit www.proplan.com or follow @ProPlan on Twitter, Instagram or Facebook. The brand is manufactured by Nestle Purina PetCare, which promotes responsible pet care, humane education, community involvement and the positive bond between people and their pets. A premiere global manufacturer of pet products, Nestle Purina PetCare is part of Swiss-based Nestle S.A., a global leader in nutrition, health and wellness.

¹ 2012 U.S. Pet Ownership & Demographics Sourcebook

SOURCE Purina Pro Plan