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For Immediate Release |
Contact: Todd Kluss |
Human Genome Sequencing, Older Workers Top Press Briefing Agenda at GSA’s Boston Meeting
Several sessions designed to better inform reporters about issues affecting America’s aging population have been scheduled for The Gerontological Society of America’s upcoming 64th Annual Scientific Meeting. This five-day gathering will take place from November 18 to 22 at the Sheraton Boston Hotel and John B. Hynes Veterans Memorial Convention Center. The events listed below will take place in rooms Hampton A & B at the Sheraton.
Luncheon Press Briefing: “Aging Means Business: Design for a New Age”
Saturday, November 19, noon to 1 p.m.
GSA is convening a day-long forum at the meeting that brings together business, design, and aging experts to share breakthrough ideas, innovations, and market strategies for success in the older adult consumer marketplace. This session will highlight some of the key issues on the conference’s agenda. The speakers include Joseph F. Coughlin, PhD, founder and director of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology AgeLab; Mary Furlong, EdD, president and CEO of Mary Furlong & Associates; and Matthias Hollwich, SBA, principal of the architecture and concept design firm Hollwich Kushner and co-founder of the architectural social networking site Architizer.
Luncheon Press Briefing: “Left Behind — Older Workers in the Down Economy”
Sunday, November 20, 11:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.
This session will feature Andrew Sum of Northeastern University, a widely cited expert on employment trends; Anthony Sarmiento, executive director of Senior Service America, Inc. (SSAI), which runs federally funded employment and training programs around the nation for low-income seniors ages 55-plus; and SSAI’s senior researcher, Robert Harootyan, long one of the sharpest socioeconomic analysts on aging in Washington.
Press Roundtable with Fernando Torres-Gil, PhD
Sunday, November 20, 2:30 to 3:30 p.m.
Torres-Gil is the associate dean of UCLA’s School of Social Welfare and Public Policy and a former U.S. assistant secretary for aging. Reporters will get solid analysis of the new Super Committee, which is scheduled to deliver its budget recommendations (or not, if the partisans deadlock) on November 23. More broadly, he will discuss how issues like Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, and Older Americans Act programs are apt to play out in the 2012 presidential election. Among his many hats at UCLA, he also heads the project on Latinos and Economic Security, which has focused on issues for Hispanic boomers.
Luncheon Press Briefing/Call-In: “Archon Genomics X PRIZE Presented by Medco: Advancing Longevity Research”
Monday, November 21, 11:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.
Call-in: 888-299-4099 (U.S.), 866-682-1172 (Canada); 302-709-8337 (International toll)
Verbal passcode: VK11471
The Archon Genomics X PRIZE presented by Medco recently updated their $10 million competition challenging companies to sequence 100 whole human genomes in 30 days or less, with 98 percent accuracy and costing at most $1,000 per genome. The 100 whole human genomes will be donated from 100 centenarians from around the world, known as the Medco 100 Over 100. The global coalition formed to recruit the Medco 100 Over 100 will be formally announced at this briefing. Offsite reporters will be able to listen in by phone and ask questions. The speakers include Grant Campany, senior director of the Archon Genomics X PRIZE; Larry Kedes, MD, senior scientific advisor of the Archon Genomics X PRIZE; Nir Barzilai, MD, director of the Institute for Aging Research at Albert Einstein College of Medicine; and Thomas Perls, MD, MPH, director of Boston Medical Center's New England Centenarian Study.
Press Reception
Sunday, November 20, 5 to 7 p.m.
Join other reporters attending the conference for a wine and cheese networking reception and discuss emerging issues on the age beat. The group will likely head out for a Dutch-treat dinner afterward.
Complimentary press registration information and an online meeting planner are available at www.geron.org/press. Badges can be picked up in the Press Room (Hampton A & B) at the Sheraton.
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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 5,400+ 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 for Gerontology in Higher Education.
Click here for a printable PDF version of this press release.
Mildred M. Seltzer Distinguished Service Recognition
Presented to C. Joanne Grabinski, PhD, Eastern Michigan University, and Mary Alice Wolf, PhD, Saint Joseph University.
This award honors colleagues who are near retirement or recently retired. Recipients are individuals who have been actively involved in AGHE through service on committees, as elected officers, and/or have provided leadership in one of AGHE’s grant-funded projects.
Administrative Leadership Award
Presented to Tammy M. Bray, PhD, Oregon State University
This award honors administrators on AGHE member campuses who have made exceptional efforts in support of gerontology or geriatrics education.
David A. Peterson Gerontology & Geriatrics Education Best Paper of the Volume Award
Presented to Nina M. Silverstein, PhD, University of Massachusetts Boston; Elizabeth Johns, MS, University of Massachusetts Boston; and Judith A. Griffin, MA, MS, University of Massachusetts Boston, for the article “Students Explore Livable Communities.” Honorable mention is given to Emily J. Robbins, MS, Miami University; Jennifer M. Kinney, PhD, Miami University; and Cary S. Kart, PhD, Miami University, for the article “Promoting Active Engagement in Health Research: Lessons Learned from an Undergraduate Gerontology Capstone Course.”
The purpose of this award is to recognize excellence in scholarship in academic gerontology in AGHE’s official journal, Gerontology & Geriatrics Education.
Graduate Student Paper Award
Presented to Deborah Gray, MBA, University of Massachusetts Boston, for the paper “Weight and Wealth: The Relationship between Obesity and Net Worth for Pre-Retirement Age Men and Women.”
This award acknowledges excellence in scholarly work conducted by an AGHE Annual Meeting student attendee.
Book Award for Best Children’s Literature on Aging
Presented to Caitlin Dale Nicholson and Leona Morinn-Nelson for “Niwechihaw/I help” in the primary reader (pre-K to 2nd grade) category, and Ann Grifalconi and Jerry Pickney for “Ain’t Nobody A Stranger to Me” in the elementary reader (3rd to 5th grade) category.
This award recognizes portrayals of meaningful aging in children’s literature.
