2013 MetLife Foundation Silver Scholar Award® Recipient Announced

Alliance for Aging Research Announces that Dr. David Wise from Harvard Kennedy School of Government, will Receive Award for Innovative Research on Healthy Aging

WASHINGTON, Aug. 12, 2013 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The Alliance for Aging Research and MetLife Foundation announced the winner of the third annual MetLife Foundation Silver Scholar Award.  Stambaugh Professor of Political Economy at Harvard Kennedy School of Government, David Wise, PhD, was selected in honor of his innovative work contributing pragmatic solutions to address the rising cost of health care associated with the aging of our nation, preventive strategies aimed at keeping aging populations healthier longer, and thought leadership on the positive contributions that greater longevity brings to society.

Dr. Wise was chosen from a pool of highly-accomplished nominees whose scholarship offers critical insights at the important juncture of aging, health care, and economics. Wise has already made tremendous impact in the area and the judges for the Silver Scholar Award expect that he will continue to change the field.

Under the terms of the award, Dr. Wise will write a review or analysis of his work to be published in a peer-reviewed journal. The paper will expand upon his work, which for the past 25 years has considered the relationship of education and healthy well-being later in life, and looked beyond current policy prescriptions for answers to the challenges posed by our aging society.  In support of his work, Wise will receive a cash award of $75,000.

The Metlife Foundation Silver Scholar Award grew out of the Alliance's Silver Book®: Chronic Disease and Medical Innovation in an Aging Nation—a resource that highlights the burden of disease and the value of innovation in mitigating that burden. The Silver Book brings together thousands of statistics and data from hundreds of reputable reports and studies, all in one easy-to-use resource. Past volumes from The Silver Book series and accompanying data are available online at www.silverbook.org.

"Dr. Wise's work will be an important and exciting addition to the Silver Scholar program, now in its third year.  It's this type of forward thinking that will bring awareness to the issues of an aging population, and progress the discussion toward innovative and creative solutions," said Susan Peschin, MHS, Chief Executive Officer of the Alliance for Aging Research.

"MetLife Foundation is proud to support the work of scholars who are proving the value of healthy aging and the importance of policies that allow people to live longer in good health," said Dennis White, CEO and President of MetLife Foundation.  "David Wise, PhD, is an accomplished academic and a deserving recipient of the Silver Scholar award.  We're confident he'll continue to make important contributions to the field," said White.

As America's population ages and endures an increasing burden of chronic disease, the U.S. faces enormous and unprecedented stresses to its health care system and economy. Dr. Wise will emphasize the importance of health in the preparation for retirement, and ask the critical question of how health might be improved. This work stems from the observation that the large differences in health at retirement are pervasive and costly, and that health at retirement is very strongly related to education.

Dr. Wise's full biography, as well as biographies of past years' recipients, can be found online at http://www.agingresearch.org/section/topic/silver_scholar.  For additional information contact Lindsay Clarke, VP of Health Programs at the Alliance at 202-293-2856 or [email protected].

SOURCE Alliance for Aging Research