Ory to receive APHA award

Regents Professor Marcia Ory, Ph.D., M.P.H., of the Texas A&M Health Science Center (TAMHSC) School of Rural Public Health will receive the Philip G. Weiler Award for Leadership in Aging and Public Health at the American Public Health Association (APHA) annual meeting Nov. 8 in Denver.

“Through your effort to steer national policy toward preventable risk factors such as lack of exercise and poor nutrition, your research demonstrates both short- and long-term effects of including older adults in health promotion programs,” stated Nancy Miller, Ph.D., past chair of the Gerontological Health Section of APHA. “You strongly believe that translating evidence-based results into policy and legislative change takes time and understanding the correct questions to ask – going beyond knowing ‘what’ works to ‘why’ it works and ‘how’ to spread practical public health interventions for promoting successful aging.”

Dr. Ory said, “It is especially heartwarming to be the recipient of this award. The Aging and Public Health section has been at the forefront of bringing aging issues to the public health community. Through better public health programs and policies, we can improve the lives of seniors and their families, making successful aging a reality – not just a dream.”

Dr. Ory spent 20 years as the National Institute of Aging’s chief of social science research on aging before coming in 2001 to the TAMHSC-School of Rural Public Health, where her focus has shifted to building a community, state and national infrastructure to widely disseminate evidence-based disease prevention programs for older adults.

Dr. Ory has published more than 150 peer-reviewed articles and numerous book chapters. With a continuing passion for promoting healthy aging, she has made a fundamental contribution to translational research by bridging the gap between research and practice.

Dr. Ory also has been an outstanding mentor, having been awarded the Distinguished Mentor Award by the Gerontological Society of America for her mentorship with students and junior faculty across The Texas A&M University System.