Public Health Scholar Receives University Award For Research On Aging

Renae Smith-Ray, a second-year PhD student at the University of Illinois at Chicago School of Public Health, has been selected as one of two Paul D. Doolen Graduate Scholars.

The Doolen Award is a university-wide scholarship, named in honor of the late Mr. Paul D. Doolen, a long-time member of the University of Illinois Foundation Board of Directors. The reward of up to $5,000 is presented to outstanding graduate students whose primary interest is in the field of aging.

A student in community health sciences, Smith-Ray’s research is focused on how physical and cognitive activities may help older adults with balance disorders and protect them from the decline of cognitive processes.

Professor of community health sciences Susan Hughes, who has been working with Smith-Ray on her doctoral studies for nearly two years, said her research led her to work with various disciplines throughout UIC and is revolutionizing the way people think about cognitive function.

“Previously, people thought as people aged, they’d lose certain cognitive functions,” said Hughes, who is also co-director of the UIC Center for Research on Health and Aging. But the kinds of activities Smith-Ray is studying will “…help people improve function later in life. She’s been doing some very innovative work.”

Smith-Ray began her doctoral studies at the UIC SPH in 2007, after completing one year of PhD work at the University of Edinburgh, one of United Kingdom’s top-rated research universities. Recently, she was also awarded the UIC SPH Estelle Goldstein Memorial Scholarship, as well as a pre-doctoral fellowship in gerontological public health shortly after arriving at UIC.

Hughes said alongside her research and several published journal articles, Smith-Ray should also be commended for balancing her education with an active family life.

“She’s very productive. She has a small child, and she’s expecting another one,” Hughes said. “Yet she’s managed to develop a curriculum for herself that’s outstanding. We’re just delighted to have her.”

The Doolen graduate scholarship is provided through the university’s Retirement Research Foundation, one of the nation’s first foundations dedicated to addressing issues of aging and retirement.

-- Danielle Desjardins

Renae Smith-Ray