page_title: Institute of Gerontology
section_title: History and Leadership
hierarchical_section_title: Institute of Gerontology / History and Leadership
caption_attribution_description: English: Front of Institute of Gerontology building. Detroit, MI.
context_page_description: The Institute of Gerontology at Wayne State University conducts research on the behavioral and social aspects of aging. Located in Detroit, Michigan, the Institute has a strong focus on urban issues, especially disability, mobility and transportation, financial challenges, and disparities in health between ethnic groups. Faculty at the Institute are jointly appointed with a home department in a complementary discipline, such as economics, physical therapy or nursing. The Institute also maintains a Lifespan Cognitive Neuroscience of Aging laboratory currently profiling brain changes in normal aging through traditional testing and magnetic resonance imaging of participants brain structure and function.
  Faculty at the Institute collaborate on research with home departments, such as Wayne State University’s Department of Psychology, Department of Economics, Department of Family Medicine and Public Health Sciences, Medical Anthropology Program, Department of Health Care Sciences, and externally with Institute of Social Research the University of Michigan and the Max Planck Institute for Human Development to name a few.
context_section_description: The Wayne State University Board of Governors created the Institute of Gerontology in 1965 in response to a mandate from the State of Michigan. The primary mission in that era was to engage in research, education, and service in the field of aging. Since its creation, the Institute has grown in number of faculty, research awards, professional development trainings (continuing education), and programs to serve the surrounding urban community.
  Peter Lichtenberg, Ph.D., has been the director of the Institute since 1998. He has enhanced and expanded the Institute of Gerontology's research, education and community outreach. Since 2001 the Institute of Gerontology has maintained a high level of research grant and publication productivity exceeding previous high funding marks by 300%. He founded the IOG Pre-doctoral training program in aging and urban health and has been the PI on a National Institute of Aging training grant since 2001; helping to train nearly 50 doctoral students in an intensive aging research program. He created the Art of Aging conference and the Healthier Black Elders Annual Health Reception, and has overseen the growth of the community outreach for older adults and for the professionals who work with them. Dr. Lichtenberg created the first fund development efforts of the Institute of Gerontology in 2004 and works with a strong Board of Visitors to enhance these efforts.
  Dr. Lichtenberg is the author of six books including the acclaimed Handbook of Assessment in Clinical Gerontology (2nd edition), Handbook of Dementia (2003), Mental Health Practice in Geriatric Health Care Settings (1998) and A Guide to psychological Practice in Geriatric Long Term Care (1994). He has authored or co-authored over 130 peer review journal articles. His particular areas of research include mental health in long term care, geriatric depression, geriatric psychology and medical rehabilitation and the early detection and management of Alzheimer's Disease. Emerging research includes older adult gambling, victims of fraud and kinship care.
  The Lifespan Cognitive Neuroscience of Aging program began in 2010 to study brain development from the fetal stage to old age. Researchers Jessica Damoiseaux, Ph.D., Noa Ofen, Ph.D., Moriah Thomason, Ph.D., and Director Naftali Raz, Ph.D. use structural and functional MRI to examine normal lifespan changes in the regional brain anatomy, white matter microstructure, iron content and myelination as well as functional connectivity and response to memory tasks. Researchers also examine the effects of dementia, anxiety and behavioral disorders on brain architecture and function. Publications of the researchers in the Lifespan Cognitive Neuroscience Program can be found in major journals,
caption: View of the Institute of Gerontology from Ferry St.
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