IOA Mission Statement

Message from the Director

This past June, we were honored to have my predecessor at the IOA, Risa Lavizzo-Mourey, MD, MBA, return to Penn as an IOA Visiting Scholar. Now heading the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and leading the way in improving the health and healthcare of all Americans, Risa challenged us all by saying that "...it's time to start thinking geriatrics is cool.”

I don't think I'm being biased when I say I couldn’t agree more. Aging research across all academic disciplines is, I believe strongly, the place to be. Aging is not only cool and rather exciting in scientific terms, but it is an area of critical importance to our nation and our society. We need to learn more about what is going on in the body, in the brain, and in the bones in order to improve quality of life for millions, patient and caregiver - not just here in the U.S., but across the globe.

To that end, we are thrilled to help announce the new Penn MARCH Center (Minority Aging Research for Community Health), located in the Division of Geriatric Medicine. Congratulations to Drs. Jerry Johnson and Neville Strumpf, and all the many brilliant minds involved. We need to know more, and we’re counting on you to help us.

We also welcome the NewCourtland Center for Transitions and Health, an interdisciplinary group that will work to better understand transitions in health to allow nurses to play a major role in health promotion, prevention of health problems, and the effective management of people of all ages and at all stages of health.

As you may know, Penn’s Capital Campaign is underway, building the future for continued research in a number of key areas, one of which is aging. There are a number of ways to make an investment in aging research, not least of which is one’s financial support. I invite you to review our website and newsletter archives for events in aging, for updates on our current research and researchers, and to learn more about studies in need of participants.

Allow me to revise Risa’s comment to say that aging is cool, and it’s time we all got involved.