Member Spotlight

Q&A with Ann L. Gruber-Baldini, PhD, Professor, Division of Gerontology, Department of Epidemiology and Public Health, University of Maryland School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD

Q: How long have you been a member and how does GSA assist with your professional development?
A: I've been a member since 1986, my first year of graduate school. GSA is my "home" organization: it's the conference I always go to, the group of journals I always read through, and the identity I give myself. As is usually the case in gerontology, my research is very interdisciplinary and has evolved over time in emphasis. But my work has always been welcomed at GSA, and I can always talk to experts in my field at the conference.

Q: How did you get interested in the field of aging?
A: Initially I was split between child development and aging. Much of my undergraduate coursework was on children, but I had some great opportunities to work with nursing home residents and older mental in-patients as part of some sociology classes at Bucknell University. When I got to graduate school at Penn State, I was paired with K. Warner Schaie and my aging emphasis was sealed. However, my work in aging has moved across the age span: (my master’s thesis was on married couples of all ages but recent work has focused on populations over the age of 80) and residential settings (from community-dwelling adults in the Seattle Longitudinal Study to nursing home residents with dementia and now with hip fracture patients in the hospital). My fascination with aging is centered on the fact that I’ve had to think about the psychological, sociological, and biological contexts in all of my research.

Q: What are your key responsibilities at your job?
A: My primary responsibilities in my position involve research, which includes obtaining funding, conducting research studies, supervising staff, and publishing scientific papers. Much of my work is with larger collaborative teams, where I provide expertise on research methods, data analyses, and substantive issues in aging. I'm also involved with teaching and mentoring in our graduate programs in Gerontology (where I teach the Psychology of Aging class) and in Epidemiology (where I co-teach Epidemiology of Aging). I also provide mentoring and support to clinical faculty and medical students within the School of Medicine and at the other professional schools at the University of Maryland Baltimore campus (nursing, pharmacy, social work).

Q: What is your most memorable research/patient experience?
A: Every research participant tells a great story, and I've been fortunate to learn so much from my subjects over the years. One of my first experiences in aging was with two nursing home residents I worked with as an undergraduate in Lewisburg, Pennsylvania. I was assigned these two residents as a sort of a “junior social worker,” and the contrast between them was striking. One woman was in her late 90s and very sociable and cognitively intact. She kept a journal of all the people she met and who visited her and was in the nursing home for physical needs. The other resident was in her late 70s and had Alzheimer’s Disease but few health problems. While she was not very oriented to time and place, she found great pleasure in walking the halls of the home and would describe her trips “over the mountains” to me as we walked and talked. These two women were quite a contrast cognitively, but both seemed to be maintaining their quality of life as best they could in this setting. They have certainly helped me think about the context of aging in various settings in a less judgmental way.

Q: How do you feel GSA serves the field of gerontology and aging research?
A: GSA serves an important role as an interdisciplinary forum where people interested in aging can communicate across academic boundaries. It includes research from laboratory science through clinically oriented and applied research, and it isn't linked to any specific disease or specialty, which is unique.

Q: Do you have any tips for emerging gerontologists?
A: First, don’t be shy about approaching experts in your field. If you identify someone doing relevant research, you should try and connect with them. Many of the gerontological experts I know are very willing about talking with students and emerging professionals. One way to do this is to contact people before the Annual Scientific Meeting and arrange a time to talk; this works out so much better than trying to catch them at the conference, because they may already have commitments and meetings lined up. Second, be persistent in achieving your goals. Many of us get rejected on the first paper or grant submission, but you have to take the feedback you get, grow from the experience, and improve your work in the future.

Q: Tell us a little about your most recent activities/accomplishments?
A: I've been very involved with my ongoing NHLBI-funded research project looking at the impact of blood transfusion thresholds on delirium, which was an ancillary study to on ongoing randomized clinical trial. We recruited subjects from 13 clinical sites, which involved a large amount of coordination regarding contracts, IRB approvals, staffing, and day-to-day oversight. We're in the analysis phase now, so I've begun presenting my work at a number of meetings. It has also allowed me to connect with a larger group of researchers interested in delirium research.

More related to GSA, I recently co-chaired the search committee to find a new head editor for JG:MS as part of my role as Health Sciences section representative to the publications committee. It's an important process, because the GSA journals are a valuable resource for many researchers.

Q: Have you had an important mentor in your career? If so, how did it make a difference?
A: I have been fortunate to have a number of gracious mentors who have been very important throughout my career. I would hate to name some of them for fear of leaving others out, but I am very grateful to them all for their encouragement and advice. I think it’s important for people to have multiple mentors for different aspects of your career and life. You need those most related to your research or within your program to give you specific advice, those who are a little outside the area to give you some perspective, and those who are in the same boat as you to give you encouragement to continue.