February 27, 2015

Heather Altman

Heather Altman

Heather Altman, MPH, has been named student recipient of the UNC Institute on Aging’s Gordon H. DeFriese Career Development in Aging Research Award.

Altman, a 1999 health behavior alumna of the Gillings School of Global Public Health, is currently a student in the School’s executive Doctor of Public Health (DrPH) program. She also is director of the Community Connections project at Chapel Hill’s Carol Woods Retirement Community and program manager for the Gillings School’s global aging collaborative with University of Cambridge (U.K.), the Massachusetts Institute of Technology AgeLab, Carol Woods Retirement Center and other partners.

The DeFriese Career Development in Aging Research Awards for students and faculty members were established in 2000 to honor Dr. DeFriese’s more than 40 years’ work in the conduct and development of research to improve quality of life for older North Carolinians and his commitment to supporting the careers of his colleagues. DeFriese, who served as director of the Cecil G. Sheps Center for Health Services Research from 1973 to 2000, held professorships in the Gillings School (epidemiology and health policy and management) and in the UNC School of Medicine (social medicine and clinical epidemiology). From 1996 to 1999, he served as founding director of the UNC Institute on Aging.

“I’m so honored to receive this award and to be connected to the amazing accomplishments of Dr. DeFriese and the UNC Institute on Aging,” Altman said. “The dramatic growth in our aging population presents new opportunities for innovation, which serves to make this an exciting time to be in aging research and service delivery. I’m thrilled that the Gillings School is committed to leading efforts in aging research, policy and practice, and that School leaders are working closely with community-based partners, including Carol Woods.”

Read more about the Gillings School’s partnership with the University of Cambridge and the collaborative’s 2014 Healthy Aging Summit

Read more about Gordon DeFriese, PhD.


Gillings School of Global Public Health contact: David Pesci, director of communications, (919) 962-2600 or dpesci@unc.edu.
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