Rita Effros has been elected president of the Gerontological Society of America (GSA), the nation's largest interdisciplinary organization devoted to the field of aging.
Efrros is a professor of pathology and laboratory medicine in the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA. Additionally, Effros created an interdisciplinary honors cluster course on aging for undergraduate students. She earned her Ph.D. in immunology from the University of Pennsylvania and Effros joined the medical school in 1979, working in the department of microbiology and immunology before joining her current department in 1992.
This is not the first honor for Effros in the field of gerontology; in 2002 she was named to the Plott Endowed Chair in Gerontology, and in 2007 she was awarded the Kleemeier Award by the Geronological Society of America.
Effros will take up the position at the 66th Annual Scientific Meeting of the GSA in New Orleans from Nov. 20 to 24. The GSA, which boasts more than 5,400 members, is also the oldest gerontological society in the country and aims to advance the study of aging and disseminate information among scientists, decision makers and the public.
