Dean Linda P. Fried Honored at Bipartisan Congressional Awards Gala

In a September 13th ceremony attended by approximately 300 members of Congress and key Executive Branch figures, the Alliance for Aging Research honored, dean of Columbia University’s Mailman School of Public Health Linda P. Fried, MD, MPH, and two others at its 25th Anniversary Bipartisan Congressional Awards Gala held in Washington, D.C.  Dr. Fried was presented with the organization’s Silver Innovator Award for her work as a powerful advocate for research and medical technology to improve the health and independence of aging Americans. The Washington-based Alliance is a non-profit organization dedicated to advancing scientific and medical discoveries to maximize healthy aging, independence, and quality of life for older Americans.

In accepting the award, Dr. Fried called for more innovative approaches and better use of science to tap the skills and potential of older Americans. “We need to dispel our unjustified fears about our society growing older. We need a new, and more evidence-based frame for setting aspirations and policies.”  She also called for changes in our health systems: “The health systems of 1950 or even 2000 don't meet the needs of an aging population. They do not utilize geriatric knowledge about how to care for people as they age, or the system components that improve outcomes while decreasing costs. They don't include, in the main, the prevention that improves health significantly in older ages, or the prevention at earlier ages that brings people to 65 and 75 still healthy.”

In addition to the Silver Innovator Award presented to Dean Fried, awards were given to the Honorable Michael B. Enzi, U.S. Senator from Wyoming; and the Honorable Richard J. Durban, U.S. Senator for Illinois—both advocates for advancing healthy aging in America. Along with federal dignitaries, the audience included executives from healthcare companies, heads of foundations, and leaders of health advocacy groups.

Dr. Fried, who is also DeLamar Professor of Public Health at the Mailman School, has dedicated her career to the science of healthy aging, particularly the prevention of frailty and disability, and the design of health-promoting activities and roles for older adults that solve major societal needs. Dr. Fried co-founded Experience Corps, a community-based senior volunteer program designed to support the academic success of children while also serving as a health promotion program for older adults.

Dr. Fried's scientific career has defined the phenotype of frailty as a new clinical syndrome, and her research has also identified approaches to prevent cardiovascular disease and the loss of independence with aging.

An elected member of the National Academy of Sciences' Institute of Medicine and of the Association of American Physicians where she serves on the governing Council, Dr. Fried is the recipient of numerous honors and awards, and has been named a "Living Legend in Medicine" by the U.S. Congress. Dr. Fried is a member of the World Economic Forum Global Agenda Council and Council on an Aging World, the MacArthur Network on an Aging Society, and Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s Age-friendly New York City Commission.