The Gerontological Society of America (GSA) -- the nation's largest interdisciplinary organization devoted to the field of aging -- has chosen XinQi Dong, MD, MPH, of the Rush University Medical Center as the 2015 recipient of the Joseph T. Freeman Award.
This honor, given annually, is a lectureship in geriatrics and is awarded to a prominent physician in the field of aging -- both in research and practice -- who is a member of the Society's Health Sciences section.
The award presentation will take place at GSA's 68th Annual Scientific Meeting, which will be held from November 18 to 22 in Orlando, Florida. This conference is organized to foster interdisciplinary collaboration among researchers, educators, and practitioners who specialize in the study of the aging process. Visit http://www.geron.org/2015 for further details.
The Joseph T. Freeman Award was established in 1977 through a bequest from a patient's estate as a tribute to a leading physician and one of the Society's distinguished members and past presidents. The winner traditionally presents a lecture at the Annual Scientific Meeting the following year.
At the Rush University Medical Center, Dong is a professor of medicine, behavioral sciences, and nursing; the director of the Chinese Health, Aging, and Policy Program; and the associate director of the Rush Institute for Health Aging. He has also served as a senior policy and research advisor for the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, and a commissioner with the American Bar Association's Commission on Law and Aging. He is also the principal investigator of the PINE Study, a longitudinal cohort study of more than 3,100 Chinese older adults in the greater Chicago area, the results of which were published in The Journals of Gerontology, Series A: Biological Sciences and Medical Sciences.
Dong's research focuses on the epidemiological studies of elder abuse and neglect both in the U.S. and China, with particular emphasis on the intersections of violence, culture, and health outcomes. Dong actively works with Chinese communities to promote understanding and civic engagement on the issues of elder abuse and neglect through innovative culturally and linguistically appropriate ways. He currently serves on the Board of Directors for the Chinese American Service League, the largest social services organization in the Midwest serving the needs of Chinese population.
He previously served as an American Political Science Association congressional policy fellow/health and aging policy fellow, working with a diverse group of policy leaders at the national, state, and local levels on issues relevant to elder abuse and neglect. He is a fellow of the Institute of Medicine of Chicago and chaired the Institute of Medicine Global Violence Prevention Forum workshop on elder abuse prevention. He received his BA in biology and economics from the University of Chicago, his MD in the problem-based curriculum at Rush University College of Medicine, and his MPH in epidemiology at University of Illinois at Chicago. He completed his internal medicine residency and geriatric fellowship at Yale University Medical Center.
Dong is a GSA fellow, which represents the Society's highest class of membership, and was the 2011 recipient of GSA's Maxwell A. Pollack Award for Productive Aging.
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The Gerontological Society of America (GSA) is the nation's oldest and largest interdisciplinary organization devoted to research, education, and practice in the field of aging. The principal mission of the Society -- and its 5,500+ members -- is to advance the study of aging and disseminate information among scientists, decision makers, and the general public. GSA's structure also includes a policy institute, the National Academy on an Aging Society, and an educational branch, the Association for Gerontology in Higher Education.