The award presentation will take place at GSA's 56th Annual Scientific Meeting, which will be held from November 21st-25th, 2003 in San Diego, California. The meeting is organized to foster interdisciplinary interactions among gerontological health care clinical, administrative, and research professionals.
Dr. Austad is a Professor of Zoology in the Department of Biological Sciences at the University of Idaho and an Affiliate Associate Professor of Pathology at the University of Washington School of Medicine. He has been a GSA fellow for ten years.
His research interests focus on the biology of aging in humans, mammals, and birds. Austad is almost universally considered to be the foremost authority on aging in natural populations. His work on the Sapelo Island opossum population still stands as the eminent "field test" of the idea that natural selection can produce slow aging genotypes in animals.
He is the author of the 1999 book "Why We Age: What Science Is Discovering about the Body's Journey Through Life." Austad holds degrees from UCLA, California State University, and Perdue University.
The award, created in 1965, is in memory of a former president of the society whose contributions to the quality of life through research in aging were exemplary. The winner traditionally presents a lecture at the Annual Scientific Meeting the following year. The Kleemeier Award Lecture is traditionally one of the conference's highlights.
The Gerontological Society of America (GSA), founded in 1945, is the oldest and largest national multidisciplinary scientific organization devoted to the advancement of gerontological research. Its membership includes some 5,000+ researchers, educators, practitioners, and other professionals in the field of aging. The Society's principal missions are to promote research and education in aging and to encourage the dissemination of research results to other scientists, decision makers, and practitioners.
Information about The Gerontological Society of America, its awards, and its 56th Annual Scientific Meeting can be found online at http://www.geron.org.