Michele Grimm, a Wielenga Creative Engineering Endowed Professor in the Department of Mechanical Engineering at Michigan State University, has been named by the National Academy of Medicine, or NAM, to a group that will assess the challenges presented by global aging and demonstrate how these challenges can be translated into opportunities for societies globally, including in the areas of science and technology.
Grimm is one of 17 members on NAM’s Commission on Creating a Global Roadmap for Healthy Longevity and is the only engineer on the international team.
Grimm’s appointment was made in early July.
“There is great potential for better health, function, and productivity during a period of extended longevity,” Grimm said. “The commission’s goal is to develop an evidence-based report in the next 18 months that identifies actionable recommendations to guide stakeholders in developing systems that will maximize good health and a state of well-being.”
The NAM international commission is co-chaired by Linda Fried, dean of the Mailman School of Public Health at Columbia University in New York, and John Eu-Li Wong, a professor of medical sciences and chief executive of the National University Health System of Singapore.
This is Grimm’s third national recognition in 2019.
In June, she received the Theo Pilkington Outstanding Educator Award – the top honor presented by the American Society for Engineering Education Biomedical Engineering Division.
In March, her efforts as co-chair of a White House Office of Science Technology Policy Taskforce were noted when findings on the opportunities for advancements in technologies that support the aging population in the U.S. were published.
Grimm previously served as a program director at the National Science Foundation — first for the Engineering of Biomedical Systems and Disability & Rehabilitation Engineering Programs and the Biomechanics and Mechanobiology Program.