Janet Peckinpaugh, co-anchor of "Connecticut News Today" on WVIT Channel 30, will be the keynote speaker at a conference presented by Cigna Healthcare of Connecticut and the School of Allied Health.

The conference will be held at La Renaissance in East Windsor on October 14, from 2:30 to 7:30 p.m. Peckinpaugh, who recently won an age and discrimination lawsuit against WFSB-Channel 3, will speak on "Fighting Age Discrimination."

The conference will also feature two panels:

• "Women, Social Issues and Health" with Alfreda Turner, president and corporate executive officer, Charter Oak Terrace/Rice Heights Health Center Inc., speaking on "Social Issues for Women and Children," and Sylvia, a 13-year employee of the Superior Court system speaking on "One Woman's Recovery from Alcoholism;"
  
  
• "Health After 40" with Jane Kerstetter, an associate professor of allied health and co-investigator in a research project on osteoporosis, speaking on "Are Our Bones at their Peak?" and Mary Jane Minkin, private practitioner of obstetrics and gynecology, speaking on "The Role of Hormones for High Quality Life."
  
  

Also featured is author Regina Barreca, a professor in the English department. An expert on women's humor, she will discuss her new book, Too Much of a Good Thing is Wonderful.

Peckinpaugh's lawsuit raised her profile nationally and led this fall to her part, among other things, in a Times Square ad campaign "The New Face of Menopause."

A former anchorwoman at WFSB, Channel 3 in Hartford, Peckinpaugh enjoyed high ratings until she lost her job at age 44. Her lawsuit against the station resulted in an $8.3 million judgement, which is being appealed.

To register for the conference, contact the Division of Extended and Continuing Education at U-56R, or call (860) 486-4905 by October 8. The cost, including dinner, is $43 per person.

Tara Anderson