Q: How long have you been a GSA member?
A: Since 1997.
Q: How specifically has membership in GSA benefitted you?
A: The affiliation with GSA has benefitted me professionally and personally. It has given me the opportunity to network with many other professionals, trainees, and organizations committed to aging research and health disparities. GSA membership has provided a platform to engage in collaborative research projects, disseminate research findings, spark lifelong friendships, and identify talented faculty and students interested in joining my program of research and institution. The welcoming environment at GSA contributes to my own leadership development by becoming a GSA Fellow, serving on the GSA Board of Directors as the Treasurer, and as chair of the Finance Committee. The strengths and reputation of the GSA is instrumental to securing funding to engage in mentoring the next generation of future leaders in aging research. As a result, a team of us received funding a year ago from an NIA cooperative agreement to become the Resource Centers for Minority Aging Research (RCMAR) National Coordinating Center (NCC) with GSA, Rush Medical Center, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, and Northeastern University. I have also served as a faculty mentor of the NIA/GSA Development & Mentoring Technical Assistance Workshop. I am indebted to the GSA – the nation’s largest interdisciplinary organization devoted to the field of aging and look forward to continuing to be its ambassador and supporter.
Q: How did you get interested in the field of aging?
A: My long-standing commitment to the field of aging and gerontology goes back to my time in medical school in Guatemala where I was born and raised. I had the opportunity to do a 6-month rotation in a rural area (or aldea) located 35 kilometers from Guatemala City. Being the only physician in training there in a small health center, I was struck by the number of older people who presented with nutritional deficiencies and chronic disease risk factors. This experience made me interested in preventive medicine, health literacy, health disparities, and the role of lifestyle to properly manage modifiable risk factors and disease conditions. Fast-forward from medical school to my PhD at the Friedman School of Nutrition Science and Policy at Tufts University, my research examined the interplay between physiology, environment, and the role of dietary protein intake and exercise/physical activity in older adults. My program of research on evidence- and community-based research has been instrumental in bridging the gap between research and practice. My journey from being a clinician to a researcher and educator has impacted people’s quality of life, independence, and ability to lead healthy lives.
Q: What projects are you working on in your current position?
A: Currently I serve as one of the PIs on the multiple PI team for the Resource Centers for Minority Aging Research (RCMAR) National Coordinating Center (NCC), or RCMARC VI, funded by NIA’s U-24. I also serve as co-PI of the Northeastern site of the Boston Roybal Center for Active Lifestyle Interventions (RALI Boston), which is in its 10th year of funding by a P30-NIA award. I am a Faculty Mentor for the GSA Career Development & Mentoring Technical Assistance Workshop, currently in its second cycle of funding by an R13-NIA award. I also proudly serve as senior faculty mentor for the NIDDK’s Network of Minority Research Investigators (NMRI) to support a network of research collaborators and new trainees and mentees interested in aging research.
Q: What do you love most about your line of work?
A: I have the honor to serve as Dean of the Bouvé College of Health Sciences at Northeastern University. In this role we attract and support the next generation of professionals, witness the professional development of faculty and staff, and interact with alumni, partners, and a wide network of stakeholders. Bouvé’s mission – which is to advance health for everyone across the healthspan, from campus to community, from cells to society, from local engagement to global impact – is enabled by a global research university and powered by experience to solve societal challenges. Seeing the transformative journeys of our students, faculty, and staff is the most fulfilling endeavor to my own values, passion, and purpose.
Q: What was the best piece of advice you got early on in your career you’d like to pass on to emerging gerontologists?
A: I was blessed with the love and role model of my late mother and father. They always encouraged me and my siblings to draw upon and take confidence from the lessons and experiences gained throughout our lives. Our principles lead us to always act with integrity and humility to overcome any challenge and take any opportunity we are facing with resiliency and heart, while adapting and asking for help when needed. To be strong and knowledgeable and have a desire to always learn more and be more for our benefit and more importantly for the benefit of the world around us. We cherish these values in our actions as professionals and human beings.