[Congressional Record Volume 144, Number 35 (Wednesday, March 25, 1998)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E465]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




 HONORING THE HUFFINGTON CENTER ON AGING AT BAYLOR COLLEGE OF MEDICINE

                                 ______
                                 

                            HON. KEN BENTSEN

                                of texas

                    in the house of representatives

                       Wednesday, March 25, 1998

  Mr. BENTSEN. Mr. Speaker, I rise to honor the Roy M. and Phyllis 
Gough Huffington Center on Aging at Baylor College of Medicine as the 
center celebrates its tenth anniversary on April 7, 1998. The 
anniversary celebration will highlight the breakthrough research on 
aging conducted by the Center's internationally renowned scientists, as 
well as the contributions that older Americans can and do make 
throughout their lives.
  The Huffington Center on Aging is committed to addressing the needs 
of an aging population by providing medical education and training, 
conducting basic and clinical science research, and delivering health 
care through Baylor College of Medicine-affiliated hospitals and other 
institutions. In just 10 years, the Center has grown to national and 
international stature in all of these areas, becoming one of the 
premier centers on aging in the world.
  The Center's history dates to 1980, when Robert J. Luchi, M.D., 
current Director of the Huffington Center on Aging, established a 
Geriatric Evaluation Unit at the Houston Veterans Affairs Medical 
Center (VAMC), a Baylor-affiliated institution. As needs grew, the 
program and staff increased with support from the VAMC and Baylor's 
Department of Medicine. In early 1987, Baylor College of Medicine 
committed funds to create the Baylor Program in Aging, and the National 
Institute on Aging awarded a Geriatric Leadership Academic Award to Dr. 
Luchi as principal investigator and James R. Smith, Ph.D., as co-
principal investigator. In 1988, the Honorable Roy M. and Phyllis Gough 
Huffington endowed the program to establish the Roy M. and Phyllis 
Gough Huffington Center on Aging.
  The Center facilitates and coordinates interdepartmental research and 
initiates its own research studies in areas including cell and 
molecular biology of aging, adrenal cell biology, aging of the skin, 
control of gene expression in cellular senescence, the aging 
cardiovascular system, health care outcomes research, and ethical 
issues in acute and long-term care settings.
  The Center's educational opportunities include courses and seminars 
in the basic and clinical sciences for clinical practitioners, 
students, trainees, faculty, staff, and health professionals, as well 
as continuing medical education courses. The Center sponsors courses 
for medical students, geriatric medicine clinical rotations for medical 
residents, and an accredited Geriatric Fellowship Training Program.
  Clinical faculty and trainees provide patient care to older persons 
through the Geriatric Medicine Associates of Baylor College of Medicine 
at Smith Tower and the Methodist Hospital; the Houston Veterans Affairs 
Medical Center; and several hospital and community long-term care 
facilities.
  During its short history, the Huffington Center on Aging has produced 
some important research breakthroughs. Center researchers cloned a gene 
critical for control of cell proliferation, creating opportunities for 
treating certain conditions associated with aging, including cancer. 
The Center's computer experts and faculty developed a hypertext module 
for geriatric education of health professionals that has been 
nationally judged the most wanted new education tool in geriatrics. The 
Center has also been widely praised for creating one of the most 
successful community programs on health issues of importance to older 
women.
  For its man successes, the Huffington Center on Aging has been named 
a national Center of Excellence in Geriatrics by the John A. Hartford 
Foundation, Inc., of New York. As such, the Huffington Center on Aging 
has the mandate to train the future national leaders in geriatrics and 
gerontology. Baylor College of Medicine has committed substantial 
additional resources to the Center and the Huffington family and other 
supporters of the Center continue to be generous in their support. As a 
result, the Center's educational programs embrace virtually all the 
health professions trained in the Texas Medical Center and allied 
institutions and extend widely throughout the state of Texas. The 
alliance between the Huffington Center and the Methodist Hospital is 
breaking new ground in the delivery of superb patient care to the 
elderly.
  Mr. Speaker, In congratulate the Huffington Center on Aging at Baylor 
College of Medicine for ten years of excellence and innovation in 
improving the quality of life for older people, and I look forward to 
even greater successes as they work to ensure healthier lives for older 
Americans in the 21st Century.

                          ____________________