UF psychologist named interim director of campuswide Institute on Aging

A psychologist who studies the effects of aging on cognition has been appointed interim director of the Institute on Aging at the University of Florida. Michael Marsiske, Ph.D., succeeds Jeffrey Dwyer, Ph.D., who resigned from the post in December 2002.

The Institute on Aging mobilizes UF faculty and students to advance the health, independence and quality of life of older populations and their families. The institute is supported by active partnerships with major health-care centers, research programs and colleges across the UF campus.

“The UF Strategic Plan identifies the investigation of social and medical problems associated with aging as one of its primary interdisciplinary priorities,” said Joseph Glover, Ph.D., the associate provost for academic affairs and the chairman of the Institute on Aging work group, charged with planning next steps for the institute. “The Institute on Aging has the potential and capacity to play a central role in advancing this research thrust, and the institute is already unique in the nation for its depth and breadth of participating faculty from the health sciences, biology, social sciences and the humanities.”

Marsiske joined the UF faculty in July 2000. He holds joint appointments as an associate professor in the College of Health Professions’ clinical and health psychology department, the College of Medicine’s health policy and epidemiology department, as well as a courtesy appointment in the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences’ department of psychology. He also has served as the associate director of research at the Institute on Aging.

The principal investigator on a $2.25 million National Institute on Aging grant, Marsiske focuses his research on the cognitive and intellectual performance of older individuals.

A search for a permanent director of the Institute on Aging is planned for later this year.