| NIH Announces New Members of the Aging Institute’s
Advisory Panel
U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Michael O. Leavitt appointed
four new members to the National Advisory Council on Aging (NACA),
the group that advises the National Institute on Aging (NIA) on
the conduct and support of biomedical, social, and behavioral research
and training on the diseases and conditions associated with aging.
The new members are:
Paul Greengard, Ph.D. — Dr. Paul Greengard, Ph.D., is the
Vincent Astor Professor and Head of the Laboratory of Molecular
and Cellular Neuroscience at The Rockefeller University in
New York City. He was awarded the 2000 Nobel Prize in Physiology
or Medicine for his discovery of how dopamine and a number
of other transmitters in the brain exert their action in
the nervous system. In his late teens, long before he began
exploring the relationships between biochemistry and electrophysiology
in the nervous system, Greengard worked on the U.S. Navy’s
early-warning system to intercept Japanese kamikaze planes
before they could reach the U.S. fleet.
Greengard was recruited to Johns Hopkins University in 1948
by Detlev W. Bronk, Ph.D., who was exploring the use of electrophysiological
techniques to study nerve function. After receiving his Ph.D.
from Johns Hopkins in 1953, Greengard received advanced training
in brain biochemistry in England at the University of London,
Cambridge University, and the National Institute of Medical
Research.
Due to England’s lack of both research funding and central
heating, Greengard returned to the states and joined the laboratory
of Sidney Udenfriend, Ph.D., at the National Institutes of
Health (NIH). After a year at NIH, he became director of the
Department of Biochemistry at the Geigy Research Laboratories
in Ardsley, NY. In 1967, he left the pharmaceutical industry
and spent a year as Visiting Professor at Albert Einstein College
of Medicine and Vanderbilt University School of Medicine. From
1968 to 1983, Greengard served as Professor of Pharmacology
and Psychiatry at Yale University and then moved to his current
position. He has remained intensely interested in the applications
of basic scientific knowledge to the development of therapeutic
agents for treatment of various neurological and psychiatric
diseases.
Greengard’s achievements have earned him many distinguished awards including
the Metropolitan Life Foundation Award for Medical Research, The Charles A.
Dana Award for Pioneering Achievements in Health, the Ralph W. Gerard Prize
in Neuroscience from the Society for Neuroscience, The National Academy of
Sciences Award in the Neurosciences, the Bristol-Myers Award for Distinguished
Achievement in Neuroscience Research, and the 3M Life Sciences Award of the
Federation of American Societies for Experimental Biology.
Terry L. Mills, Ph.D. — Terry L. Mills, Ph.D., is Associate Professor of Sociology
and Associate Dean for Minority Affairs in the University of Florida College
of Liberal Arts & Sciences and Director of the University’s Office
for Academic Support and Institutional Services. Prior to this appointment,
he served as Assistant Dean of the UF Graduate School with responsibilities
for the Office of Graduate Minority Programs, and Director of the Ronald E.
McNair Scholars Program.
Mills' research has focused on how physical health, functional disability,
and demographic and socioeconomic factors influence the levels of depressive
symptoms among older adults. Currently, he is examining intergenerational relationships
between adult grandchildren and their grandparents.
Mills came to UF in 1996 after earning his doctorate in sociology, with an
emphasis in gerontology, from the University of Southern California (USC).
At USC, he was an NIA Pre-doctoral Fellow at the Andrus Gerontology Center.
Prior to completion of his doctorate, Mills held corporate positions in information
technology for more than 20 years.
Albert L. Siu, M.D., M.S.P.H. — Albert L. Siu, M.D., MSPH, is Chairman of
the Brookdale Department of Geriatrics and Adult Development and the Ellen
and Howard C. Katz Professor of Geriatrics and Adult Development at The Mount
Sinai Medical Center. He is also Director of the Geriatric Research Education
and Clinical Center at the Bronx VA Medical Center. He is a general internist,
geriatrician, and health services and policy researcher. He is also a Senior
Associate Editor of Health Services Research, a trustee of the Nathan Cummings
Foundation, and a member of the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force, the nation's
leading independent panel of private sector experts in prevention and primary
care.
Siu's research has focused on improving the quality and delivery of care to
older people, measuring and improving functional outcomes in older people,
and evaluating the benefits of comprehensive geriatric assessment. His recent
studies have highlighted the sometimes grave consequences of hip fractures
and the efficacy of clinical interventions to arrest growing problems.
Siu graduated from Yale Medical School and completed a residency in internal
medicine and a fellowship as a Robert Wood Johnson Clinical Scholar at the
University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA). In 1985, he joined the UCLA faculty
in Medicine with a joint appointment at RAND. He served as Chief of the Division
of Geriatric Medicine at UCLA from 1989 until his departure in 1993 to become
a Deputy Commissioner in the New York State Department of Health. In 1995,
he went to Mount Sinai Medical Center as a Professor in the Department of Health
Policy. Before moving into his current role, he was the Clifford Spingarn,
M.D., Professor and Chief of the Division of General Internal Medicine at Mount
Sinai from 1998-2002.
Mary E. Tinetti, M.D. — Mary Tinetti, M.D., is the Gladys Phillips Crofoot
Professor of Medicine, Epidemiology, and Public Health, and Director of the
NIA-supported Claude D. Pepper Older Americans Independence Center at Yale
University.
A physician-scientist with clinical training in geriatrics, Tinetti has studied
and published extensively on falls prevention and fall injury risk factors.
She determined that older persons at risk for falling and injury could be identified,
that falls and injuries were associated with serious outcomes including nursing
home placement and functional decline, and that multifactorial risk reduction
strategies were effective at reducing falls. Tinetti is now translating her
research findings into clinical and public health practice at the state and
national level. She also investigates functional disability, mobility impairment,
individual patient preference in the face of multiple health conditions, and
the adverse effects of multiple medications.
Tinetti was a recent member of the Board of Directors of the American Geriatrics
Society and serves on several national advisory committees including the Paul
Beeson Physician Faculty Scholars in Aging Research program, the Robert Wood
Johnson Generalist Physician Faculty Award Program, and the Nonprescription
Drug Advisory Committee of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. She has received
numerous awards, including the Joseph T. Freeman Award from the Gerontological
Society of America, the Irving Wright Award from the American Federation of
Aging Research, and the Greppi Prize from the Italian Gerontological and Geriatric
Society. She has published more than 100 original peer-reviewed studies and
is an editor for the fifth edition of Principles of Geriatric Medicine and
Gerontology.
The NIA is one of 27 Institutes and Centers of the National
Institutes of Health, part of the U.S. Department of Health
and Human Services. NIA’s website is www.nia.nih.gov.
For NIA’s free health publications, please call 1-800-222-2225.
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