The award presentation will take place at GSA's 57th Annual Scientific Meeting, which will be held from November 19th-23rd, 2004 in Washington, DC. The actual conferral will occur on Monday the 22nd at 12:15 p.m. in Salon 1-M of the Marriott Wardman Park Hotel. The meeting is organized to foster interdisciplinary interactions among gerontological health care clinical, administrative, and research professionals.
Dr. Smith is currently the editor of GSA's Journal of Gerontology: Biological Sciences and is recognized nationally and internationally for his contributions to the understanding of the basic biology of aging. He has been a leader in the field of cellular senescence for over 30 years. In fact, he has been highly successful in obtaining federal funding for his research. For example, he has been the director of a program project grant on cell senescence for the past 18 years.
More recently, his work has focused on the role alterations in chromatin structure play in cellular senescence, which is now a particularly hot area of research in molecular biology.
The award, created in 1965, is in memory of a former president of the society whose contributions to the quality of life through research in aging were exemplary. The winner traditionally presents a lecture at the Annual Scientific Meeting the following year. The Kleemeier Award Lecture is traditionally one of the conference's highlights.
The Gerontological Society of America (GSA), founded in 1945, is the oldest and largest national multidisciplinary scientific organization devoted to the advancement of gerontological research. Its membership includes some 5,000+ researchers, educators, practitioners, and other professionals in the field of aging. The Society's principal missions are to promote research and education in aging and to encourage the dissemination of research results to other scientists, decision makers, and practitioners.
Information about The Gerontological Society of America, its awards, and its 57th Annual Scientific Meeting can be found online at http://www.geron.org.