Brian Downer, PhD, FACRM, FGSA, associate professor in the Department of Population Health and Health Disparities at the UTMB School of Public and Population Health, has been elected to the Board of Directors of the Gerontological Society of America. He was chosen by the society’s membership and begins his term January 1, 2027.
Downer joins Lewis A. Lipsitz, MD, MS, of Harvard Medical School and Dawn C. Carr, PhD, MGS, of Florida State University as incoming board members. Founded in 1945, the Gerontological Society of America is the oldest and largest interdisciplinary organization devoted to aging, with more than 6,000 members working in research, education, practice and policy.
Downer has served on the Board of Governors of the American Congress of Rehabilitation Medicine (ACRM) since 2023, and that term ends later this year, so he moves directly from one board to the next.
Downer said: “I learned a lot as an ACRM board member about the complexities of making a professional organization meet the needs and expectations of its members. I greatly enjoyed my time on the ACRM board, but the GSA position will be more personally meaningful. My PhD is in gerontology, and I’ve been attending GSA’s annual conference since I was a first-year doctoral student 16 years ago. It’s an honor to be able to serve the organization that has had such an impact on my career.”
On the board, he wants to work on how the society reaches people outside the field. “I’m most interested in how GSA can continue expanding the public’s understanding of aging and older adults,” Downer said. “GSA has made important contributions in this area, but myths and misconceptions about aging and older adults persist.” He also plans to contribute to growing the society’s membership and supporting the needs of current members.
Downer directs UTMB’s PhD programs in Population Health Sciences and Rehabilitation and Health Services Research, and he expects this role in GSA to open opportunities for the students and postdoctoral fellows in both. “My position also increases the national visibility of UTMB and our programs, which can be a great benefit to our students and trainees,” he said.
His research examines the epidemiology of dementia and cognitive decline, Hispanic health and aging, and healthcare utilization by older adults, and has been supported by K- and R-level awards from the National Institute on Aging. He serves with Neil K. Mehta, PhD, as a principal investigator of Health of Older Minorities, a National Institute on Aging T32 training program, and co-leads the Research Design, Analysis, and Data Management Core at UTMB’s Claude D. Pepper Older Americans Independence Center. He is also a fellow of the Sealy Center on Aging and holds the Lloyd and Sue Ann Hill Professorship in Healthy Aging. He earned his PhD in gerontology from the University of Kentucky College of Public Health and completed a postdoctoral fellowship at UTMB in the Sealy Center on Aging.
