Joshua Wiener Named Gerontological Society of America Fellow

RESEARCH TRIANGLE PARK, N.C. — Joshua Wiener, Ph.D., an RTI International distinguished fellow and director of RTI's Aging, Disability and Long-Term Care Program, has been elected a fellow in the Gerontological Society of America.

Fellowship represents the highest class of membership in the society, which is the nation's oldest interdisciplinary organization dedicated to research, education and practice in the field of aging. Wiener will be inducted during the Gerontological Society of America Annual Scientific Meeting, Nov. 14-18, in San Diego, Calif.

Wiener has almost 40 years of experience in research and policy analysis with a focus on aging, disability and long-term care. Since joining RTI in 2003, he has led studies of residential care facilities, home and community-based services, and quality assurance systems for long-term care in other countries.

Wiener is currently involved in studies of Medicaid spend down, residential care facilities, the relationship between obesity, disability, and health care costs; medical homes for older people with disabilities; and Alzheimer's disease. He is also co-director of the U.S. Administration on Aging-funded Alzheimer's Disease Social Support Services Program National Resource Center.

Before coming to RTI, Wiener conducted policy analysis and research for the Urban Institute, the Brookings Institution, the Health Care Financing Administration, the Massachusetts Department of Public Health, the U.S. Congressional Budget Office, a New York State commission on nursing homes and the New York City Department of Health.

Wiener is the author or editor of eight books and over 100 articles on health care for older people, people with disabilities, long-term services and supports, Medicaid, health reform, health care rationing, and maternal and child health. He is a member of the editorial board of Public Policy and Aging Report and the Journal of Aging and Social Policy.

Wiener holds doctoral and master's degrees, both in sociology, from Harvard University. He also holds a bachelor's degree in sociology from the University of Chicago.