News
January 7, 2016Benjamin Shaw Named Gerontological Society of America Fellow
Benjamin Shaw, Ph.D., chair of the Department of Health Policy, Management and Behavior in the University’s School of Public Health has been named a fellow of the Gerontological Society of America (GSA).
The status of fellow — the highest class of membership within the Society — is an acknowledgment of outstanding and continuing work in gerontology, the study of aging. The recognition can come at varying points in an individual’s career and can acknowledge a broad scope of activity including research, teaching, administration, public service, practice, and notable participation within the organization.
Shaw studies aging, physical activity among the elderly, and early life trauma as an influence on health in older adults. His research includes a four-year National Institutes of Health-funded study examining how older adults’ patterns of physical activity, substance use, and health care utilization change with increasing age. In conjunction, he compares the health lifestyles of older adults in the U.S. to those of elderly Japanese citizens.
The GSA seeks to foster collaboration between biologists, health professionals, policymakers, behavioral and social scientists, and other age studies scholars and researchers, and believes the intersection of research from diverse areas is the best way to achieve the greatest impact and promote healthy aging.
In addition to Shaw, the GSA named 58 researchers and professionals as its newest fellows in 2015. The fellows were formally recognized during GSA’s 68th Annual Scientific Meeting, held November 18-22 in Orlando, Florida.
