Exercise for the Elderly: Have We Discovered the Fountain of Youth?   Lynn Gerber, M.D. Chief, Department of Rehabilitation Medicine Warren Grant Magnuson Clinical Center

By the year 2030, 85-year-olds will be the fastest growing segment of our society; there will be 70 million Americans over the age of 65. Exercise is one way to improve the quality of life for the elderly of all ages.

Drawing from her acknowledged expertise in rheumatology, rehabilitation, and biomechanics, Dr. Lynn Gerber will speak about how exercise affects our aging bodies.

She completed her undergraduate work at Smith College, continuing on to earn her medical degree from Tufts University School of Medicine. She completed internal medicine at the New England Medical Center. Dr. Gerber joined NIH as a Clinical Associate in the Arthritis and Rheumatism Branch of the National Institute of Arthritis, Metabolism, and Digestive Diseases (now called the National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases or NIAMS), where she completed her fellowship in rheumatology. Subsequently, she did a residency in physical medicine and rehabilitation at George Washington University Medical Center. In 1976, she returned to NIH as Chief of the Clinical Centerís Department of Rehabilitation Medicine.

Currently, she also directs the Foot Management Program at the National Rehabilitation Hospital in Washington, D.C. In addition, she is a physician with the Arthritis and Rheumatism Branch of NIAMS, as well as a Clinical Professor of Rheumatology at Georgetown University.

She has authored or co-authored over 100 publications, including journal articles and textbook chapters in rheumatology and rehabilitation medicine. She also serves as a journal reviewer for the Archives of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, the Journal of Rheumatology, and the Journal of Clinical Oncology.

Dr. Gerber is a diplomate of the American Board of Internal Medicine, in the board's subspecialty of rheumatology, and a diplomate of the American Board of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation.

She maintains active professional membership in the D.C. Rheumatism Society, the American College of Rheumatology, the American Academy of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, and the Association of Academic Physiatrists.

A recipient of numerous honors, Dr. Gerber has received WETAís Woman of Achievement, an NIH Director's Award, and a Public Health Service Award for exceptional achievement in orphan products development.

Dr. Gerber lectures widely, both nationally and internationally, at lectureships and symposia. She has also organized national conferences and courses on rheumatology and rehabilitation medicine.

Tonight, Dr. Gerber will explain how regular exercise can reverse or prevent many of the changes seen in the aging process. This is important knowledge for those seeking productive, active lives--at any age.

For more information about the Clinical Center and its Medicine for the Public lecture series, contact CC Communications (OCCC@nih.gov), (301) 496-2563. National Institutes of Health, Warren Grant Magnuson Clinical Center, Bethesda, Maryland 20892. 7/99 99 Series | CC home | NIH home