AFAR is pleased to announce our 2021 Terrie Fox Wetle Rising Star Award in Health Services and Aging Research recipient, Andrea Gilmore-Bykovskyi, PhD, RN, of University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Nursing, Dr. Gilmore-Bykovskyi is recognized for her dementia-focused health services research program, investigating social and behavioral communication patterns among individuals with moderate to advanced dementia, particularly in minority and diverse populations. The American Federation for Aging Research (AFAR), is a national non-profit organization whose mission is to support and advance healthy aging through biomedical research. This award honors a health services researcher in an early or middle phase of his/her career who has already made important contributions with work that respects the value of multidisciplinary health services science and that is likely to be highly influential in shaping practice and research for decades to come.
Dr. Gilmore-Bykovskyi is the Deputy Director, UW Center for Health Disparities Research (CHDR); Informatics Lead, Care Core, Wisconsin Alzheimer’s Disease Research Center; and an Assistant Professor, University of WisconsinMadison School of Nursing. She is also Affiliate Faculty, Division of Geriatrics, Health Service Care Research Program, in the University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health, Department of Industrial and Systems Engineering, and UW-Madison College of Engineering.
Dr. Gilmore-Bykovskyi is recognized for her dementia-focused health services research program, investigating social and behavioral communication patterns among individuals with moderate to advanced dementia, and the role of temporally situated observational measures and inclusion of persons with dementia and their caregivers in this line of research. Dr. Gilmore-Bykovskyi is currently leading a large observational study to investigate episodes of lucidity in advanced dementia, as well as considerations for strengthening progress in outcome evaluation among persons living with dementia through multidisciplinary and community-informed health services research.
The award is named in honor of Terrie Fox Wetle, PhD, who has devoted her professional career to three related domains. She has been a tireless advocate for inclusion of aging-related health services research in Public Health. She has lovingly and effectively mentored hundreds of new investigators in a broad array of disciplines. As inaugural Dean, she built a thriving School of Public Health at Brown University, while leading efforts to improve aging-relevant content in public health curricula. Professor Wetle sets an example of visionary leadership, mentoring and administrative excellence. In her honor, AFAR established the Terrie Fox Wetle Rising Star Award in Health Services and Aging Research in 2019. ”
“The needs of America’s growing older population demand innovative health services,” notes Stephanie Lederman, EdM, AFAR Executive Director. “The visionary work of Dr. Gilmore-Bykovskyi and Dr. Wetle exemplify applying research to improving the wellness of seniors and communities. AFAR is proud to support the future of health services and aging research with this award.” Nominations for the award are by invitation and are judged by an independent panel of leading aging researchers. The award is a framed citation and carries a cash prize of $5,000. Dr. Gilmore-Bykovskyi will receive the award and present a lecture at the Annual Meeting of the Gerontological Society of America in November 2021. She will discuss progress in investigating social and behavioral communication patterns among individuals with moderate to advanced dementia, particularly in minority and diverse populations. Learn more here.
