UAB professor selected to serve as standing member of NIH’s Aging Systems and Geriatrics Study Section, Center for Scientific Review

Thomas Buford, Ph.D., will serve a four-year term on the NIH’s Aging Systems and Geriatrics Study Section, Center for Scientific Review.
(Photo by: Steve Wood)Thomas Buford, Ph.D., director of the UAB Center for Exercise Medicine and associate professor in the University of Alabama at Birmingham’s Division of Gerontology, Geriatrics and Palliative Care, has been selected to serve as a member of the National Institutes of Health’s Aging Systems and Geriatrics Study Section, Center for Scientific Review.

The ASG Study Section is responsible for reviewing grant applications for clinical-transitional efforts that primarily involve human subjects. These efforts may investigate geriatric conditions and complex late-life disorders that involve multiple organ systems such as frailty, incontinence, balance, loss of functional capacity, delirium, fatigue and multimorbidity. 

“It is an honor to have been selected for this position,” Buford said. “I am looking forward to the opportunity to serve the scientific community in this meaningful way as we all focus on ways to improve the quality of life for older adults.” 

Buford will review grant applications submitted to the NIH, make recommendations on the applications to the appropriate NIH national advisory council or board, and survey the status of research in their fields of science. This is an important service to the scientific field and plays a critical role in ensuring the NIH funds are allocated toward the highest-quality scientific projects. 

Buford will serve for a four-year period beginning July 1, 2021, and ending June 30, 2025. Although Buford has served as an ad hoc reviewer for the study section in the past, this position will now allow him to serve as a standing member. Buford was selected for this role based on his demonstrated competence and achievement in his scientific discipline, including the quality of his research accomplishments, publications in scientific journals, and other significant scientific activities, achievements and honors. He will serve on his first panel as a standing member in October. 

For more information about the NIH ASG Study Section, click here.