The Gerontological Society of America (GSA) — the nation's largest interdisciplinary organization devoted to the field of aging — has chosen Vishwa Deep Dixit, DVM, PhD, of the Pennington Biomedical Research Center as the 2011 recipient of the Nathan Shock New Investigator Award.
The distinguished honor is given for outstanding contributions to new knowledge about aging through basic biological research. It was established in 1986 to honor Nathan Shock, PhD, a founding member of GSA and pioneer in gerontological research at the National Institutes of Health.
The award presentation will take place at GSA's 64th Annual Scientific Meeting, which will be held from November 18 to 22 in Boston, MA. This conference is organized to foster interdisciplinary collaboration among researchers, educators, and practitioners who specialize in the study of the aging process. Visit www.geron.org/annualmeeting for further details.
Dixit is an associate professor and head of the Laboratory of Neuroendocrine Immunology at the Pennington Biomedical Research Center within the Louisiana State University system. He also holds appointments as an adjunct faculty member in the Department of Biological Sciences at Louisiana State University and the Department of Immunology at the Louisiana State University Health Sciences Center.
A major goal of his research program is to obtain creative insights that advance knowledge in the field of aging with emphasis on interactions between the immune and metabolic systems. His studies focus on understanding the causes and consequences of aberrant immune-cell activation within the adipose tissue microenvironment in various stages of obesity and aging. He also works to determine the lineage and mechanisms of ectopic adipocyte development within the aging thymus — a process that eventually transforms a T cell-producing healthy thymus into a dysfunctional adipose tissue mass over the course of an individual's life. The long-term goal of his research is to develop novel approaches to forestall or even reverse the aging of the immune system as a means to enhance the health span. The research in Dixit's lab is supported by the National Institute on Aging (R01AG031797), the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases (R01DK090556), and the Coypu Foundation.
Dixit is a frequently invited reviewer of scientific papers from well-respected journals and has served as a section editor of the Journal of Leukocyte Biology since 2008. He has received several awards recognizing his work, including most recently the Baton Rouge Business Report's 40 Under 40 Award, which honors local young leaders. He also serves as an outstanding mentor to young trainees interested in aging research. Several of his fellows have received awards from scientific associations given to graduate students and postdoctoral fellows. During his career, he has published a total of more than 40 papers in top-tier publications, including Nature Medicine and the Journal of Clinical Investigation.
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.