(Press-News.org) Marilyn R. Gugliucci, MA, PhD, FAGHE, FGSA, AGSF, FNAOME, of the University of New England (UNE) College of Osteopathic Medicine (COM) has been installed as the new president of the Gerontological Society of America (GSA), the nation’s largest interdisciplinary organization devoted to the field of aging. She was elected by GSA’s membership, which consists of 6,000 researchers, educators, practitioners, and other professionals.
Gugliucci is the 81st person to hold the office since the Society was founded in 1945. As president, she will oversee matters of GSA’s governance and strategic planning, while also managing the program for GSA’s 2025 Annual Scientific Meeting. She has chosen “Innovative Horizons in Gerontology” as the theme for this conference, which will take place in Boston, Massachusetts, from November 12 to 15.
“It is such an honor to serve as president to work with GSA’s amazing staff, dedicated Board of Directors, skilled members, and support the emerging scholars and professionals who are GSA’s future,” Gugliucci said. “GSA has been my professional home for 30-plus years. This organization offers significant opportunities to collaborate with colleagues in the U.S. and across the globe; to engage in initiatives, committees, interest groups, and governance; and to recharge one’s personal and professional ‘battery’ through the many prospects that continually advance new horizons in our field.”
Gugliucci is a professor and the director of Geriatrics Education and Research at the UNE COM as well as the founding director of U-ExCEL older adult fitness/wellness program. She co-chairs UNE’s Age Friendly University initiatives. For 18 years, she was the founding director of the UNE BodyWISE Center for Health and Fitness, which worked with 500 community older adults and 150 physicians to support the health and wellbeing for people who experienced cardiac, pulmonary, and other health issues such as joint replacements and chronic conditions. BodyWISE focused on cardio, strength, and balance training as well as developed programs for people with dementia and their carers. In essence, BodyWISE was a medically oriented gym (MOG) that engaged medical and health professions students in using exercise as a treatment modality before MOGs were identified.
In 2006, Gugliucci and a UNE COM geriatrician implemented the university’s Department of Geriatrics, funded through a Health Resources and Services Administration grant. Now renamed the Division of Geriatrics, in 2024 it was awarded the GSA Academy for Gerontology in Higher Education Program of Merit for its robust and required geriatrics training and education (approximately 50 hours) during medical school years one and two. The average range of hours dedicated to geriatrics education in medical schools in the United States is zero to five hours. UNE COM’s geriatrics curriculum dedicates 80 percent of these hours to direct and experiential learning with and from older adults, the 12 hours of lecture also includes older adult participation.
Gugliucci also designed and implemented a unique Learning by Living Research Project that offers two tracks: The Nursing Home Immersion whereby medical students are “admitted” with a diagnosis to live the life of a resident for two weeks complete with a diagnosis and standard procedures of care; and The 48-Hour Hospice Home Immersion where pairs of medical students live in an 18-bed in-patient acute care hospice home for 48 hours to conduct patient care, family support, and post-mortem care. Both research programs have been recognized with national awards from the American Association of Colleges of Osteopathic Medicine. Additionally, she conducts falls-prevention research and virtual reality education research.
She is a fellow of four national associations and serves on national and state boards/committees. One example includes serving as a two-time mentor for the International Honor Society of Nurses/Hartford Foundation Geriatrics Nursing Leadership Academy. She served as member-at-large, treasurer, and as president of the Academy (formerly Association) for Gerontology in Higher Education, chair for GSA Health Sciences Section, and on the inaugural GSA Board of Directors. Gugliucci lectures both nationally and internationally, has multiple publications, and has been recognized with state and national awards, the most recent being the Maine Council on Aging Lasting Legacy Award.
“Through her distinguished career accomplishments and service in many GSA leadership roles, Marilyn has been the embodiment of our Society’s interdisciplinary commitment to research, education, and practice,” said GSA CEO James Appleby, BSPharm, MPH. “I, along with the GSA staff and Board of Directors, respect her unwavering commitment to aging issues and look forward to continuing to innovate in 2025 during her presidency.”
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The Gerontological Society of America (GSA) is the nation's oldest and largest interdisciplinary organization devoted to research, education, and practice in the field of aging. The principal mission of the Society — and its 6,000+ members — is to advance the study of aging and disseminate information among scientists, decision makers, and the general public. GSA’s structure includes a nonpartisan public policy institute, the National Academy on an Aging Society, and GSA is also home to the National Center to Reframe Aging and the National Coordinating Center for the Resource Centers for Minority Aging Research.
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Gugliucci takes office as the Gerontological Society of America’s president
2025-01-27
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