Honor/Award
Congratulations to CHABIS associate Megan Huisingh-Scheetz, who received the Mid-Career Innovation Award from the Gerontological Society of America at their annual meeting in November. This award acknowledges outstanding contributions of an established mid-career GSA member of the Health Science section to an innovative and influential area of the field in research and/or practice. These innovative and influential contributions may include achievements across a wide range of scholarship, including research, practice, teaching, application, and integration.
Dr. Huisingh-Scheetz uses her background in Geriatrics and Epidemiology to study the role of activity in the pathophysiology of frailty and aging. As a clinician investigator and NIA K23 recipient, her research has focused on understanding how objectively measured activity and sedentary behavior patterns, resting metabolic rate, and body composition relate to frailty progression and frailty-related outcomes. Through her work, she analyzes accelerometry data to assess and trend activity patterns as markers of frailty and to inform frailty activity interventions using the National Social Life, Health and Aging Project dataset, the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey dataset, and local data. In partnership with NORC and Orbita, Inc, Dr. Huisingh-Scheetz also developed and is studying the impact of EngAGE, a technology-based tool utilizing a voice assistant to deliver exercise programming to older adults in their home to reduce frailty. The program leverages caregivers to provide social motivation to the older adult to simultaneously combat loneliness.