Each year, leading advocates, policymakers, and champions in the aging community gather in Washington, DC, to celebrate our collective efforts to enhance healthy aging. As we approach our annual Heroes in Health Celebration on Tuesday, September 24, 2024, we’re highlighting the remarkable work of past award honorees in this blog series.
Our 2023 Silver Innovator, Dr. Henry Buchwald, is a pioneer in biomedical engineering with 20 patents, including the first implantable infusion pump for insulin and chemotherapy. A former Professor of Surgery and Biomedical Engineering at the University of Minnesota, Dr. Buchwald has received numerous awards for his clinical and scholarly contributions. Last year, we honored him with our Silver Innovator Award for his significant impact on clinical research.
We caught up with Dr. Buchwald this summer to see how he’s doing and hear about his ongoing contributions to aging research:
What were your favorite moments from last year’s Heroes in Health event?
Meeting the members of the organization and being so thoroughly impressed by their dedication to bring recognition to a segment of our society that has been fairly much neglected.
How did being honored as our 2023 Silver Innovator impact you and your work?
It allows me to cite the organization and the award I received and so appreciate as evidence that research and innovation are not only the domains of the young.
What does it mean to be a Silver Innovator?
It is a great honor.
Tell us about the initiatives you’ve led since then?
I have been involved primarily in educating the medical profession and the lay public about the accomplishments and promises of metabolic surgery. I have recently written an article that has been submitted for publication titled: Metabolic Surgery; Progenitor of Effective Therapy for Atherosclerotic Cardiovascular Disease, Cancer, Type 2 Diabetes, and Obesity.
How has the recognition boosted your passion?
My passion has received company.
When you were a child, what did you imagine growing older would be like?
It certainly never involved the process of aging; it was a fantasy of staying perpetually young.
What do you enjoy most about growing older now?
The fact that it is occurring.
Join us on Tuesday, September 24, 2024 at the Waldorf Astoria in Washington, DC as we celebrate “Hope, Resilience, and Healthy Aging,” at our annual Heroes in Health Celebration. Registration is now open to purchase tickets. Sponsorships are also available. To learn more about awards dinner, visit our event page.
