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For Immediate Release |
Contact: Todd Kluss |
The Gerontological Society of America To Host 2017 IAGG World Congress
The Gerontological Society of America (GSA) — the country’s largest interdisciplinary organization devoted to the field of aging — has been selected by the International Association of Gerontology and Geriatrics (IAGG) as the host organization for the 2017 World Congress of Gerontology and Geriatrics.
The announcement was made during this year’s World Congress in Paris, France. A planning committee — chaired by former GSA President Harvey Jay Cohen, MD — spent the last several months preparing a bid, which Cohen delivered to the IAGG Council. (A downloadable PDF version of the complete bid is available on GSA’s website at http://www.geron.org/GSA_IAGG_bid.pdf.)
“We look forward to welcoming representatives from around the globe,” said current GSA President Michèle Saunders, DMD, MS, MPH. “Addressing worldwide aging issues is officially one of our Society’s top priorities and we have a strong tradition of hosting conferences of interest to diverse international audiences.”
GSA is a professional home for more than 600 international members from nearly 50 countries, representing 12 percent of the overall membership. The organization’s Annual Scientific Meeting also regularly welcomes hundreds of attendees from other nations.
IAGG holds a World Congress every four years to provide an international forum for the exploration of new discoveries about aging; GSA last hosted this event in 1985 in New York, NY.
The 2017 gathering is slated to be held at the Moscone Center in San Francisco, CA, in July. The chosen theme is “Global Aging and Health: Bridging Science, Policy, and Practice.”
“The challenges and opportunities presented by an aging society are not unique to the United States,” said former GSA President John W. Rowe, MD, who will serve as president of the Congress. “There is an increasing need for global dialogue, cooperation, and problem solving. GSA has the vision, experience, and capacity to support IAGG in successfully addressing these issues.”
Rowe — a professor in the Department of Health Policy and Management at the Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health and a former chairman and CEO of Aetna, Inc. — will assume his presidency following the 2013 World Congress in the Republic of Korea. Two other prominent GSA members will join him in positions of IAGG leadership.
Former GSA President Toni Antonucci, PhD, will become the secretary general/vice president of the Congress; she is the Elizabeth M. Douvan Collegiate Professor of Psychology, program director, and senior research professor in the Life Course Development Program at the Institute for Social Research at the University of Michigan.
Current GSA Secretary Jacqueline Angel, PhD, will become the treasurer of the Congress; she is a professor of sociology and public policy at the LBJ School of Public Affairs and faculty affiliate in the Population Research Center and the Center for Health and Social Policy at The University of Texas at Austin.
After the 2017 World Congress concludes, Rowe, Antonucci, and Angel will assume the same respective roles on the Executive Committee of the IAGG Council for the subsequent four years.
IAGG has member organizations in over 64 countries worldwide with a combined membership of over 45,100 professionals. Its mission is to promote the highest levels of achievement of gerontological research and training worldwide, and to interact with other international, inter-governmental, and non-governmental organizations in the promotion of gerontological interests globally and on behalf of its member associations. The IAGG is also a member of the Conference of Nongovernmental Organizations in Consultative Relationship with the United Nations (CONGO).
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The Gerontological Society of America (GSA) is the nation's oldest and largest interdisciplinary organization devoted to research, education, and practice in the field of aging. The principal mission of the Society — and its 5,200+ members — is to advance the study of aging and disseminate information among scientists, decision makers, and the general public. GSA’s structure also includes a policy institute, the National Academy on an Aging Society, and an educational branch, the Association of Gerontology in Higher Education.
