‘Father’ of longevity studies to give Stier Lecture

Pulitzer-Prize-winning researcher Robert N. Butler, M.D., will deliver the Washington State University Spokane Robert F. E. Stier Memorial Lecture in Medicine on Feb. 24. He will be one of three distinguished speakers for the evening event, which will be centered on the topic, “Living Long and Living Well: How Can We Afford It?”

Butler will speak on “Quality of Life in the Era of Longevity.” He will be joined by David Sclar and Anthony Bonanzino, who will address “Drug Pricing: Costs and Remedies.” Sclar is the Boeing Distinguished Professor of Health Policy and Administration and director of the pharmacoecomonics and pharmacoepidemiology research unit, Department of Health Policy and Administration, WSU; Bonanzino is the chief executive officer of Hollister-Stier Laboratories, Spokane.

The event will be from 7-9 p.m. at the Red Lion Hotel at the Park, 303 W. North River Drive, Spokane. It is free to the public, but seating is limited. Those who plan to attend are urged to call (509) 358-7640 or e-mail ahec@wsu.edu to reserve a seat.

Butler is co-chair of the Alliance for Health & the Future, president and chief executive officer of the International Longevity Center-USA, and a professor of geriatrics in the Brookdale Department of Geriatrics and Adult Development at the Mount Sinai Medical Center in New York City.

 From 1975 to 1982, Butler was the founding director of the National Institute on Aging of the National Institutes of Health. In 1982 he founded the first department of geriatrics in a U.S. medical school, Mount Sinai School of Medicine. He held the Brookdale Professorship of Geriatrics from 1982-1995. In 1990, with Shigeo Morioka, he co-founded the International Longevity Center, a policy research and education center that studies the impact of longevity on society and its institutions. There are now ILCs in France, the United Kingdom, Japan, and the Dominican Republic as well as the United States.

In 1976 Butler won the Pulitzer Prize for his book, “Why Survive? Being Old in America,” which was translated into Japanese and published in Japan in 1992. He is co-author with Dr. Myrna I. Lewis of the books “Aging and Mental Health” and “Love and Sex After 60” (4th edition published 2002). He is presently working on a new book, “The Longevity Revolution.”

Butler was a principal investigator of one of the first interdisciplinary, comprehensive, longitudinal studies of healthy community-residing older persons. Conducted at the National Institute of Mental Health from 1955-1966, it resulted in the landmark book “Human Aging.” He found that much that is attributed to “old age” is in fact a function of disease, social-economic adversity, and even personality.

This research helped establish the understanding that senility is not inevitable with aging but is, instead, a consequence of disease. The NIMH research contributed to a different vision of old age, setting the stage for the concepts of “productive aging” and “successful aging.”

In 2003, he received the Heinz Award for the Human Condition, and in 1995, he chaired the advisory committee for the White House Conference on Aging.

At the event, students from the Interdisciplinary Design Institute at WSU Spokane will display works featuring community designs for intergenerational living. A certificate of attendance for attendees may be applied to Category II credits for healthcare professionals and continuing education credits for others.

The Stier Lectures are coordinated by the Eastern Washington Area Health Education Center, a unit of WSU Extension at WSU Spokane. The lectures are funded by an endowment established by Alton R. Stier, M.D., and Robert A. (Bud) Stier, M.D., in honor of their late father.

The series features annual presentations from key leaders in medicine who represent the current state of the art and science, and whose works have increased professional and public understanding of new technologies and challenging issues. The lectures serve the medical profession and the public to increase dialogue and stimulate interaction around innovative ideas and biomedical technologies.

For more information on the Stier lectures, contact the AHEC at (509) 358-7640, ahec@wsu.edu.