UND hosts National Institute on Aging director for fireside chat
UND President Andrew Armacost recently welcomed Dr. Richard Hodes, director of the National Institute on Aging at the National Institutes of Health, for a wide-ranging fireside chat focused on the future of aging research, Alzheimer’s disease, rural health and the growing role of artificial intelligence in medicine.
Held in the late afternoon on Monday, May 4, before UND and NIA researchers, faculty members and others, the conversation highlighted the rapid evolution of aging science during Hodes’ more than three decades leading the NIA.
The fireside chat was held in a ballroom at the Olive Ann Hotel in downtown Grand Forks, and coincided with the NIA Regional Director’s meeting, held on the UND campus from May 4-5.
Hodes reflected on his career path — from growing up on Long Island and driving an ice cream truck in the summers, to studying at Yale and at Harvard Medical School, and eventually joining the NIH as a physician-scientist. He credited mentorship and being open to unexpected opportunities as key influences throughout his career.
During the discussion, Hodes said research on aging has transformed dramatically since he became NIA director in 1993.
“Aging and aging research, not only from a public health standpoint, but from the excitement of the most basic translational biological behavioral sciences, has really become a model,” Hodes said.
Today, he said, aging science has become a leading area of biomedical research, driven by advances in molecular biology, behavioral science and personalized medicine.
