This year’s annual meeting of the Gerontological Society of America (GSA) takes place in New Orleans, Louisiana, November 19-23. I’m flying there today for what promises to be a fascinating and intensive meeting. I have two reasons to be excited about this year’s meeting: 1) the meeting’s theme, “Transitions of Care Across the Aging Continuum,” directly addresses our serious interest in improving care transitions for older adults, particularly those managing multiple chronic conditions, and 2) I am looking forward to seeing several current and former Hartford grantees accept well-deserved awards at the meeting. I plan to blog about the highlights of the meeting next week. Here, I’d like to say a little bit about a few of the excellent researchers and clinicians who will have a chance to accept an award over the next few days:
Mathy Mezey, EdD, RN, FAAN, New York University, will accept the Donald P. Kent Award, given annually to a GSA member “who best exemplifies the highest standards for professional leadership in gerontology through teaching, service, and interpretation of gerontology to the larger society.” Mathy is a longtime friend and adviser of the Hartford Foundation, a senior leader in geriatric nursing, and former head of the Hartford Geriatric Nursing Institute, which she led from 1995-2005. Last year’s winner, Barbara Berkman, DSW/PhD, Columbia University, will give the awards lecture, entitled, “Changing Landscape in Health and Aging: Seizing the Opportunity.”
Mary E. Tinetti, MD, Yale University, will receive the Maxwell A. Pollack Award for Productive Aging, which “recognizes instances of practice informed by research and analysis, research that directly improved policy or practice, and distinction in bridging the worlds of research and practice.” The award is a direct result of her groundbreaking work on falls prevention for older adults. I can’t think of anyone more deserving than Mary, who is a Center of Excellence Director, former chair of the Beeson Award advisory committee, and an outstanding leader in the field of aging. She became a MacArthur Fellow in 2009, and is currently a health and aging policy fellow. Last year’s winner, Eric Coleman, MD, MPH, will deliver the awards lecture, entitled, “Infusing True Patient Centered Care into Improving Care Transitions.”
Another Center of Excellence director and former Beeson advisory committee member will receive an award this year: Lewis Lipsitz, MD, Hebrew Senior Life, Harvard University. Dr. Lipsitz will be honored with the Joseph T. Freeman Award, a lectureship awarded annually “to a prominent physician in the field of aging — both in research and practice — who is a member of the Society's Health Sciences section.” Stephanie Studenski, MD, MPH, last year’s winner, will deliver a lecture on the future of geriatrics at the award ceremony.
An additional lectureship prize, The Irving S. Wright Award of Distinction Lecture, awarded by the American Federation for Aging Research (AFAR) honors exceptional contributions to basic or clinical research in the field of aging. Nir Barzilai, MD, Director of the Institute for Aging Research, Albert Einstein College of Medicine, will deliver this year’s lecture, entitled, “Healthy and Exceptional Longevity in our Life Time?” Dr. Barzilai, who received a Beeson Award in 1997, is a major contributor to the field of aging research, particularly in the area of genetic contributions to longevity.
Last, but of course not least, we congratulate Nancy Whitelaw, PhD, for her recent appointment to the post of president-elect of the Gerontological Society of America. Nancy, who directs the National Council on Aging’s Center for Healthy Aging, is a longtime grantee of the foundation for her work on promoting evidence-based health programs. We think she is an excellent choice to be GSA’s next president.
I am looking forward to congratulating all of these worthy winners in New Orleans starting tomorrow, and also eager to spend several days immersing myself in the latest thinking on how we can improve care transitions for older adults. Let the good times roll!