image: Megan Huisingh-Scheetz, MD, MPH, of the University of Chicago recognized with AFAR’s Terrie Fox Wetle Rising Star Award in Health Services and Aging Research
Credit: AFAR
New York, NY – The American Federation for Aging Research (AFAR), is proud to recognize the outstanding contributions of Megan Huisingh-Scheetz, MD, MPH, with the 2024 Terrie Fox Wetle Rising Star Award in Health Services and AgingResearch.
This award honors a health services researcher in an early or middle phase of his/her career who has already made importantcontributions with work that respects the value of multidisciplinary health services science and that is likely to be highly influential in shaping practice and research for decades to come. The award is a framed citation and carries a cash prize of $5,000.
Dr. Huisingh-Scheetz is an Associate Professor, Associate Director of the Aging Research Program, and Co-Director of the Successful Aging and Frailty Evaluation Clinic in the Section of Geriatrics and Palliative Medicine, University of Chicago. Dr. Huisingh-Scheetz uses her background in Geriatrics and Epidemiology to focus her career on the translation and advancement of frailty science. As a clinician-investigator and former NIA K23 recipient, she has a specific interest in understanding the role of technology in advancing translational frailty science. Her work targets two areas of technology: accelerometry and voice-activated assistant devices. She studies how accelerometry-based mobility patterns relate to frailty and aging biomarkers and whether these devices can improve our understanding of frailty, enhance the frailty assessment and support frailty management. As a clinician, she established a novel frailty evaluation clinic in 2011, the Successful Aging and Frailty Evaluation™ (SAFE) clinic, in which she assesses and manages frailty in all referred patients and support their caregivers. She has published about the challenges of frailty implementation, produced national reference data for frailty measures, and created frailty assessment and training tools to support clinical frailty integration. She also developed a new technology-based program called “EngAGE” that leverages a voice-activate assistant (e.g., Alexa Echo Show) to deliver long-term exercise and socialization support to frail adults while empowering their caregivers, a project that was conducted in partnership with NORC at the University of Chicago and Orbita, Inc. She is currently leading a randomized-controlled trial testing EngAGE’s efficacy on physical and social function among multimorbid, homebound, African-American older adults.
"The needs of America's growing older population demand innovative approaches," notes Stephanie Lederman, EdM, AFAR Executive Director. " Dr. Huisingh-Scheetz is a visionary leader in the application of new technologies to the care of older adults and AFAR is proud to recognize her research with this award."
Established in 2019, the award is named to honor Terrie Fox Wetle, PhD, who has devoted her professional career to improving the lives of older persons and advocating for the inclusion of aging-related health services research in Public Health. Dr. Wetle has served as the inaugural Dean of the School of Public Health at Brown University, and Deputy Director of the National Institute on Aging at the National Institutes of Health, as well as former board president and current board member of AFAR.
Says Dr. Huisingh-Scheetz: “I am honored to receive an award named after a highly influential leader in public health and health care research, from an organization who has supported the pipeline of biomedical researchers in aging for decades. There are many aging scientists working on very meaningful health services research efforts across the globe. I hope to use this recognition to elevate the work of these dedicated scientists, to advocate for health services needs of our older adults and to promote team science as a critical strategy to help address these needs.”
Dr. Huisingh-Scheetz will receive the Wetle Award at a ceremony hosted by AFAR at the Gerontological Society of America (GSA) Annual Scientific Meeting in Seattle, WA on Thursday, November 14 from 630pm-9pm PT. She will present a lecture on her research titled, “Harnessing Health Services Research to Fuel Frailty Implementation and Innovation.”
The Terrie Fox Wetle Rising Star Award in Health Services and Aging Research is one of AFAR’s four annual Scientific Awards of Distinction, in addition to the Vincent Cristofalo Rising Star Award in Aging Research, the Irving S. Wright Award, and the newly established George M. Martin Lifetime Achievement in Mentoring Award. Nominations for the awards are judged by a panel of leading aging researchers.
Learn more about AFAR’s Scientific Awards of Distinction here.
###
About AFAR - The American Federation for Aging Research (AFAR) is a national non-profit organization that supports and advances pioneering biomedical research that is revolutionizing how we live healthier and longer. For more than four decades, AFAR has served as the field’s talent incubator, providing $212,500,000 to 4,460 investigators at premier research institutions to date—and growing. In 2024, AFAR expects to provide approximately $12,270,00 to 60 investigators. A trusted leader and strategist, AFAR also works with public and private funders to steer high quality grant programs and inter-disciplinary research networks. AFAR-funded researchers are finding that modifying basic cellular processes can delay—or even prevent—many chronic diseases, often at the same time. They are discovering that it is never too late—or too early—to improve health. This groundbreaking science is paving the way for innovative new therapies that promise to improve and extend our quality of life—at any age. Learn more at www.afar.org