CEO Blog

There are a lot of reasons to be excited about GSA’s upcoming Annual Scientific Meeting in Boston. People are eager to attend and share in the advancement of aging research. We’ve already got more than 3,000 pre-registrants, with many more expected. This year, GSA received a total of 4,395 abstract submissions (including individual symposium abstracts) — a 21 percent increase from the 3,612 received in 2016! Submissions were received from 45 countries, with the majority coming from the U.S., Canada, Japan, China, and the U.K.

It is with a very heavy heart that I share news about the loss of Greg O’Neill, a beloved member of the GSA team for more than 20 years. He passed away September 5 at the age of 51 after a long illness.

GSA had the honor of hosting a reception for the 2018 class of National Institute on Aging (NIA) Butler-Williams Scholars during their week-long immersive training program here in the DC metro area earlier this month.
 
The Butler-Williams Scholars Program is designed for junior faculty and researchers new to aging.  Given GSA’s role as a home for junior scholars through the Society’s Emerging Scholar and Professional Organization, supporting this event was a natural.

GSA’s Journalists in Aging Fellows Program is about to have a record year! We’re currently accepting applications to welcome 20 reporters in 2018, a new high for us.

GSA has a longstanding commitment to showcasing the extraordinary value of the scholarship conducted by its members, and this program is one of the highly visible ways we accomplish this. The stories produced by the fellows, who hail from many different sectors of the consumer press, reach tens of millions of readers, listeners, and viewers each year.

On May 10, GSA hosted a Capitol Hill briefing to launch “Longevity Economics: Leveraging the Advantages of an Aging Society,” a new report we developed with support from Bank of America Merrill Lynch.

The title was very deliberately chosen, particularly the word “advantages.” The report takes direct aim at the conventional wisdom that many believe regarding an aging society — that it is somehow inevitably a negative development. Nothing could be further from the truth. This report addresses many of the myths around population aging and provides examples of how population aging can be leveraged to improve economic growth and strengthen the country.