Dilworth-Anderson honored for Alzheimer’s research
| March 15, 2010 | |
Dr. Peggye Dilworth-Anderson
Peggye Dilworth-Anderson, PhD, professor of health policy and management and interim co-director of UNC’s Institute on Aging, has received the 2010 Ronald and Nancy Reagan Research Institute Award for her contributions to research on Alzheimer’s disease. She was honored March 9, during the seventh annual National Alzheimer’s Gala in Washington, D.C.
“I’m especially grateful to the Alzheimer’s Association for having selected me as this year’s recipient,” Dilworth-Anderson said.”Even though research about the human brain is essential,” she said, “the people touched by Alzheimer’s – the patients and their families – are of equal significance. This award in recognition of my work is an acknowledgment of that.”
Dilworth-Anderson’s current research focuses on developing interventions and educational programs about dementia and access to care. The programs help educate elders and their caregivers in medically underserved communities.As the incidence of Alzheimer’s is greater in African-American and Hispanic communities, Dilworth-Anderson says her research helps “level the playing field” in Alzheimer’s education and awareness.
“Those who live in underserved communities don’t have adequate access to health care information,” she says. “Knowledge is hope, and my desire is to spread more of both through my research.” Dilworth-Anderson was inducted in November 2009 as president of the Gerontological Society of America and has served on the National Alzheimer’s Association’s board of directors. Her leadership at UNC’s Institute on Aging aims to promote collaborative gerontological research, develop innovative and interdisciplinary programs of gerontological education and practice, and provide state-of-the-art information to policymakers, program managers, service providers and the general public. The former President and Mrs. Reagan established the Research Institute in 1995 under the auspices of the national Alzheimer’s Association to accelerate progress in research on the disease. The Institute has awarded more than $12 million in research grants. The Alzheimer’s Association is the largest voluntary health organization dedicated to finding prevention methods, treatments and an eventual cure for the disease.
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UNC Gillings School of Global Public Health contact: Ramona DuBose, director of communications, (919) 966-7467 or ramona_dubose@unc.edu.
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