Detroit - Mark R. Luborsky, Ph.D., director of aging and health disparities research in the Institute of Gerontology (IOG), and professor of anthropology and gerontology at Wayne State University, has been appointed adjunct foreign professor at the prestigious Nobel Prize-granting Karolinska Institute in Stockholm.    

The six-year appointment recognizes Luborsky for his many scientific achievements and long-standing research focus on life reorganization and continuity of meaning and function.  "Mark is not only an exceptional scholar but a phenomenal colleague to all Institute of Gerontology faculty and students," said Peter Lichtenberg, Ph.D., director of the IOG.

Luborsky is the editor of Medical Anthropology Quarterly: International Journal for the Analysis of Health  (2006-2013). He co-directed Wayne State's IOG's National Institutes of Health (NIH)-funded Post-Doctoral Training Program. Currently, he serves as a member of the National Institute of Arthritis Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases on the Data and Safety Monitoring Board for a multi-site surgery trial, and is a member of the NIH/Community Influences on Health Behavior study section review panel. This June, he will conduct invited research training on environment and health at Yunnan University, China. 

Luborsky, who has been a faculty member at WSU for over 15 years, has made significant research contributions in the areas of reintegrating injured people into meaningful and active lives. In particular, his NIH-funded study, Hip Fracture: Cultural Loss and Long-term Reintegration assessed ways to reduce health disparities among male and female survivors of hip fracture, which has a 45 percent fatality rate within one year. His current research aims to discover, assess and evaluate the key factors in shaping long-term, post-rehabilitation outcomes in active duty and veteran service members who have suffered spinal cord and mild brain injury.

"Dr. Luborsky is most deserving of this recognition from the prestigious Karolinska Institute," said Hilary Ratner, Ph.D., vice president for Research at Wayne State University. "His research targets ways to help people in the United States and all over the world.  This collaboration with the Karolinska Institute will allow his research to have an even greater impact around the globe."

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The Institute of Gerontology researches the aging process, educates students in gerontology, and presents programs on aging issues relevant to professionals, caregivers and older adults in the community (www.iog.wayne.edu). The Institute is part of the Division of Research at Wayne State University, one of the nation's preeminent public research institutions in an urban setting. For more information about research at Wayne State University, visit research.wayne.edu.

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