Her ground-breaking research in several areas related to aging has earned Paula Bickford, PhD, the 2011 Denham Harman Research Award from the American Aging Association.

Dr. Bickford, professor of neurosurgery in the USF Department of Neurosurgery and Brain Repair and in the Center of Excellence for Aging and Brain Repair, has focused her research on Parkinson’s disease, Alzheimer’s disease, stroke, traumatic brain injury, and herbal medicine, working to understand the behavioral, cellular, molecular, and genetic components of aging, putting a major focus on testing therapies for age-related diseases.

“A lifetime achievement award is a truly distinct honor, especially when it comes to someone with perhaps her best research still ahead of her,” said Harry R. van Loveren, MD, the David W. Cahill Professor and chairperson of the USF Department of Neurosurgery and Brain Repair.

The Denham Harman Research Award was established in 1978. Named in honor of Dr. Denham Harman, co-founder of the American Aging Association, the award honors those who make significant contributions to biomedical aging research.

Dr. Bickford, who joined USF in 2001 and is also a senior researcher at the James A. Haley Veterans’ Hospital, will receive the award in June at the American Aging Association’s annual meeting in Raleigh, NC.