Faison to receive AAGP’s Junior Investigator Award
Dr.
Warachal Faison
Geriatric Psychiatry Research, Alzheimer's Research and Clinical program fellow Warachal Faison, M.D., with the Department of Psychiatry has been chosen to receive the 2005 Barry Lebowitz Junior Investigator Award from the American Association for Geriatric Psychiatry (AAGP) at its annual meeting on Thursday, March 3 in San Diego, Calif.
“Warachal Faison is a dedicated young doctor, who has raised the bar through her enthusiasm for her profession and desire to help aging Americans,” said Anand Kumar, M.D., AAGP president. “Armed with the knowledge that there is a higher incidence of Alzheimer’s disease and vascular dementia among African-Americans, she has gone on the road throughout the South encouraging professionals and family members to spread the word that this population needs to become more involved in research projects.”
The Junior Investigator Award is in recognition of the best, unpublished original research by an emerging leader in the research field. Faison was selected by AAGP’s Research Committee for her paper, “African Americans’ Decision Making to Participate in Alzheimer’s Disease Clinical Trials.” The study examines and describes factors important to African Americans when deciding whether to participate in Alzheimer’s disease-related clinical trials.
Faison, assistant director of the Institute for MUSC's Research Minority Training on Mental Health and Aging, will present her paper at the conference on March 6.
Faison is the assistant director of the Institute for Research Minority Training on Mental Health and Aging at the Medical University of South Carolina, where she also serves as a fellow in geriatric psychiatry research.
When notified that she was selected to receive the Junior Investigator Award, Faison said she was extremely grateful to be awarded this recognition by AAGP, plus receive additional funding and support through South Carolina Resource Center on Minority Aging Research (RCMAR) grant.
“I have always been intrigued by older adults - their stories and their ways of coping in times of health and disease,” Faison said. “I feel fortunate to have the opportunity to share their thoughts and beliefs about Alzheimer’s disease and research. I plan to develop and examine strategies that will improve minority recruitment and retention in Alzheimer’s disease clinical trials in the future.”
Faison would like to acknowledge the National Institute on Aging for funding her research endeavor as well as her mentors, Jacobo E. Mintzer, M.D., Mary Sano, Ph.D., and Sara Corwin, MPH, Ph.D. She feels indebted to the African American community for supporting her research.
The AAGP Junior Investigator Award is named for Barry Lebowitz, Ph.D., to honor his efforts at the National Institute of Mental Health to mentor and advance the work of young researchers in geriatric psychiatry.
The American Association for Geriatric Psychiatry is a national association
representing and serving its members and the field of geriatric psychiatry.
AAGP’s mission is to enhance the knowledge base and standard of practice
in geriatric psychiatry through education and research and to advocate
for meeting the mental health needs of older Americans.
Friday, Feb. 25, 2005
Catalyst Online is published weekly, updated
as needed and improved from time to time by the MUSC Office of Public Relations
for the faculty, employees and students of the Medical University of South
Carolina. Catalyst Online editor, Kim Draughn, can be reached at 792-4107
or by email, catalyst@musc.edu. Editorial copy can be submitted to Catalyst
Online and to The Catalyst in print by fax, 792-6723, or by email to petersnd@musc.edu
or catalyst@musc.edu. To place an ad in The Catalyst hardcopy, call Community
Press at 849-1778.