North Carolina Conference On Aging A Great Success

The 7th Annual North Carolina Conference on Aging was a great success. Despite some cancellations due to state travel restrictions, 535 registrants attended a rich program of educational sessions and presentations on research in progress and research translation. Results of an evaluation survey suggest a high degree of satisfaction with the content of the conference program, and with the smoothness of its organization. The Institute on Aging is lead sponsor of the NCCOA, with co-sponsorship from the Division of Aging and Adult Services, the North Carolina Association on Aging, the North Carolina Association of Area Agencies on Aging, the Governor's Advisory Council on Aging, and AARP. East Carolina University acted as local host, providing hospitality events, and the opening plenary session featured several East Carolina researchers describing their aging research programs. Governor-elect Beverly Perdue and Lieutenant Governor-elect Walter Dalton (still candidates for office at the time) both made addresses at the AARP awards luncheon. Candidate for US Senate (now Senator-elect) Kay Hagan also made an informal appearance and greeted Conference attendees.

Aging Services Awards Presented At NCCOA

At the recently concluded North Carolina Conference on Aging, the following awards were presented by various sponsoring organizations.
NC Division of Aging and Adult Services: the Ewald W. Busse Award to Pam Silberman, JD, DrPH; the George L. Maddox Award to Edna Ballard, MSW; the Ernest B. Messer Award to Buncombe County and the Buncombe County Aging Coordinating Consortium.
NC Association of Area Agencies on Aging: the Margaret Hart Hardee Preeminence in Aging Award to Charles Dickens, PhD.
NC AARP: the AARP Andrus Award for Community Service to Jerry Shelby, Salisbury, NC.
NC Consumer Fraud Task Force: the Public Sector Award to Phil Lehman, Assistant Attorney General, NC Consumer Protection Division; the Private Sector Award to Karen Daeke, Vice President for Security Administration at the State Employees Credit Union.
Seniors Health Insurance Information Program: the Mickey Hanula Volunteer of the Year Award to Serena Sellers, Columbus County; the SHIIP Statewide Coordinator of the Year to Nancy Wright, Harnett County; the SHIIP Statewide County of the Year to Onslow County; the Jim Long Outstanding SHIIP Service Award to Dennis Streets, Director, NC DAAS.

Aging Exchange Poster Award Winners

The Institute on Aging is pleased to announce the poster presentation winners from the 5th Annual Aging Exchange, held Thursday, October 16th at the William and Ida Friday Center, Chapel Hill. Over 130 people attended the event. Through the generous support of our co-sponsors, we were able to award first prizes of $250, second prizes of $200, and third prizes of $150 to University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill graduate students and postdoctoral fellows. Read the full story for the list of winners.

IOA Announces Winners Of The Research Stimulus Grants In Aging Program

Awards in the form of pilot grants for interdisciplinary team building and research grant development in aging have been made to three researchers at UNC-Chapel Hill. Funding for this grant program was provided, in large part, by the Office of the Vice Chancellor for Research and Economic Development. The funded pilot projects include: A Pilot Study to Explore Factors Influencing Pursuit of Work in Persons with Disabilities After Age 50 (Continuation funded), Co-Principal Investigators Charles Bernacchio, Ed.D., CRC, and Donna Falvo, RN, PhD; Risk Management and Retirement, Principal Investigator John C. Scott, Ph.D.; Clot Structure and Venous Thrombosis and Thromboembolism in the Elderly (Continuation funded), Principal Investigator Alisa S. Wolberg, Ph.D. Read the full story.

Good News For NC Colleagues

Victor Marshall, IOA Director, has received the Evelyn Shapiro Mentoring Award from the Canadian Association on Gerontology, "in recognition of his contributions to the mentoring of students, new academics, and emerging scholars in the field of aging." Dr. Marshall is a founding member of the CAG and received the award at the Association's 37th annual scientific and educational meeting. He taught the first sociology of aging course in a Canadian university calendar, and mentored many doctoral students who are currently active in Canadian and international gerontology education and research. He is also Director of the IOA's Carolina Program in Health and Aging Research (CPHAR) training program, currently supporting two postdoctoral and four predoctoral fellows.

TraCS Institute Pilot Grants Program

The North Carolina Translation and Clinical Sciences (TraCS) Institute Pilot Grant Program offers several opportunities to develop research in aging. The scope of the program goes well beyond "bench to bedside" and could encompass a wide range of aging and health issues. Investigators who might wish to pursue a pilot grant with IOA assistance should contact IOA Associate Director for Research, Dr. Jennifer Craft Morgan. The program is now accepting applications and will award approximately $4.3 million dollars in pilot funding in the first year of the Clinical and Translational Science Award (CTSA). The levels of funding being offered will range anywhere from $2,000 up to $100,000. For details on the various grant opportunities, please go to http://www.tracs.unc.edu/pilots.htm

AARP-NC Internship Opportunity

AARP North Carolina will have an internship position available for the 2009 spring semester. The Intern will work with the two Co-Directors of Advocacy to advance AARP's state and federal legislative agendas. Visit the IOA's Jobs page for the full description.

Call For Papers

The International Journal of Management has issued a special issue call for papers on the topic of ‘‘The Changing Nature of Retirement: An International Perspective.’’ The deadline for submission is July 1, 2009. Connect to the submission guidelines information.

Newsletters From Nonprofits

The Virginia Center on Aging, at Virginia Commonwealth University, publishes a quarterly newsletter, Age in Action. Its target audience includes professionals in aging, gerontologists, geriatricians, and adult home and community professionals. Activities in geriatrics and gerontology education and research in the Commonwealth of Virginia are featured, as is a case study in each issue, developed based on current issues and concerns affecting older adults.

NIA Appoints New Deputy Director

Marie A. Bernard, M.D., a noted geriatrician and educator from the University of Oklahoma, has been named deputy director of the National Institute on Aging effective Oct. 12, 2008. She recently served as president of the Association for Gerontology in Higher Education and as president and chair of the board of the Association of Directors of Geriatric Academic Programs. Read more...

Small House Initiative For Elder Care

Pioneer Network, the nation's leading resource for the long-term care culture change movement, announced a new initiative supported by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation to enhance communication and shared learning among those interested in the financing and delivery of person-directed long term care through small houses as an alternative to institutional nursing homes. The project will include a webinar series in Winter/Spring 2009.

November Aging Observances

National Family Caregivers Month
National Memory Screening Day- November 18, 2008

New from NC Researchers

New from the Digital Library

Upcoming Events In NC

November 7, 2008
Carolina Population Center Friday Seminar Series
Regional Differences in the Marriage Earnings Gaps for Men and Women in the United States
Dr. Claudia Geist, Sociologist and CPC Postdoctoral Scholar
Room 405 CPC East

November 11, 2008 IOA Seminar Series
Veterans and Aging
Victor Marshall, IOA Director, and Rebecca Matteo, Wake Forest University and IOA
3:30-5:00 pm, IOA main conference room, 720 MLK Jr. Blvd., Chapel Hill

November 12, 2008
NC MUST and STAR Rating System
Course for continuing education credit
Duke Health Raleigh Hospital Cancer Center, 9am - 1:30pm
Info: Diana Gore, (919) 520-6844, dgore@brookdaleliving.com or Philshaunda Lee, (919) 358-6789, phlee@brookdaleliving.com

November 14, 2008
Coming Home: Spirituality in Later Life
Sponsored by Second Journey
United Church of Chapel Hill

November 18, 2008 IOA Seminar Series
A community-based exercise intervention to improve balance and decrease falls: A pilot study
Tiffany Shubert, Research Scientist, IOA and Division of Physical Therapy, Dept. of Allied Health Sciences
3:30-5:00 pm, IOA main conference room, 720 MLK Jr. Blvd., Chapel Hill

November 20, 2008
Coming Home to Who We Really Are (live audio conference)
1:00 PM
Speakers: Rabbi Zalman Schachter-Shalomi and Sarah Susanka
Sponsored by Second Journey

Save The Dates

September 15-16, 2009
Promoting Environmental and Policy Change to Support Healthy Aging
A Research to Practice Symposium presented by the
CDC Prevention Research Centers-Healthy Aging Research Network
Friday Center, Chapel Hill, NC
http://www.prc-han.org/Save%20the%20date%20final.pdf

View our complete events calendar at www.aging.unc.edu/events/.

Community Bulletin Board and Jobs in Aging

Publication of this newsletter is announced via email listserv. Current and past issues may be viewed at any time at http://www.aging.unc.edu/news/newsletter.html . To join one of our lists, please visit www.aging.unc.edu/news/lists.html for more information. If you have information that you would like to include in this newsletter in the future, please send it to aginginfo@unc.edu at any time.