Alliance for Aging Research Honors Champions of Healthy Aging at Annual Bipartisan Congressional Awards Dinner

WASHINGTON - Sept. 30, 2014 - PRLog -- Today the Alliance for Aging Research honors Sen. Bill Nelson of Florida, Purdue University president Mitchell E. Daniels Jr., TEDMED curator and chairman Jay Walker and renowned geneticist J. Craig Venter at its 21st  Annual Bipartisan Congressional Awards Dinner at the Willard InterContinental Hotel in Washington, D.C.

“We are once again excited to celebrate another year of advances in aging research,” says Susan Peschin, MHS, Alliance president and CEO. “This evening we honor a group of individuals who have contributed to advancing the cause of aging research in the health care, public policy and medical research arenas. Their contributions serve as an inspiration to us as we continue in our mission to accelerate the pace of scientific discoveries and their application to vastly improve the universal human experience of aging and health.”

• Nelson receives the Claude Pepper Award for Advancing Healthy Aging. As chair of the Senate Special Committee on Aging, he has time and again demonstrated his commitment to keeping aging issues and the needs of older adults at the forefront of the national consciousness.

• As recipient of the Senator Orrin Hatch Award for Advancing Healthy Aging, Daniels has made significant contributions to health care throughout his career. This includes the implementation of the Healthy Indiana Plan (HIP) and the RX for Indiana program as governor of Indiana.

• The Silver Innovator Award goes to Walker for his work as a prolific inventor, entrepreneur and visionary. As curator of TEDMED, he has helped expand knowledge about health and medicine to millions of people throughout the world.

• J. Craig Venter, Ph.D., is the Alliance’s Indispensable Person of the Year due to his monumental impact on the field of genetics and human biology. As one of the most important scientists of the 21st century, he has made numerous invaluable contributions to genomic research.

For more information about the event, please go here. For inquiries, please contact Noel Lloyd at 202.370.7852 or nlloyd@agingresearch.org.

About the Alliance for Aging Research
The Alliance for Aging Research is the leading nonprofit organization dedicated to accelerating the pace of scientific discoveries and their application in order to vastly improve the universal human experience of aging and health. The Alliance was founded in 1986 in Washington, D.C., and has since become a valued advocacy organization and a respected influential voice with policymakers. Visit www.agingresearch.org for more information.