Dr. Renato Maia Guimarães is the President of the International Association of Gerontology and Geriatrics for the term 2005 to 2009, and was the chair of the organizing committee of the 18^th World Congress of IAGG, held in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, June 26-30, 2005. He graduated in Medicine in 1975 and spent two years in the University of Birmingham, England, working under the supervision of Professor Bernard Isaacs. In Birmingham Dr. Maia Guimarães was deeply involved in research on falls in the elderly, and published with Professor Isaacs a pioneer paper on gait abnormalities related to falls.(Guimarães R M , Isaacs B. Characteristics of gait in old people who fall. Int. Rehab. Med, 1980; 2: 177-180.) His MSc. thesis was also based in the research in gait and falls.

On returning to Brazil Dr. Maia Guimarães developed the Health Program for the Elderly, for the Brazilian Ministry of Health. For five years he traveled all over the country as a consultant to local health authorities on the epidemiological transition and in the planning of health care for the elderly. During the time he was in the Ministry of Health, Dr. Maia Guimarães also created a program for health promotion ("Viva Bem a Idade que Você Tem") recognized as the most creative and efficient strategy for education of the elderly in Brazil so far. In 1991 Dr. Maia Guimarães took a position at the University Hospital of Universidade de Brasília, where he developed, and currently runs, the Medical Center for the Elderly, and he is also a professor of Geriatric Medicine. This Center has a geriatric outpatient clinic, a memory clinic, a psychogeriatric day hospital, a research center on physical activities for the elderly, and special services for Alzheimer's patients. The Ministry of Health has accredited it as a reference center for the elderly. Dr. Maia Guimarães was a member of the WHO Experts Panel in Health of the Elderly, and has been a consultant to the Pan-American Health Organization (PAHO) in education in Geriatrics. He is a co-author of the PAHO "Manual de Aspectos Clinicos del Adulto Mayor".

Dr. Maia Guimarães has been very active in the Brazilian Geriatrics and Gerontological Society, where he served two terms as president. He organized several congresses, including the XII Brazilian Congress of Geriatrics and Gerontology, the First Brazil-France Meeting in Geriatrics, and the VII forum of Geriatric Neuro-Psychiatry. He was a founding member of the Brazilian Association of Geriatric Neuro-Psychiatry and of the Brazilian Association for Alzheimer Disease (ABRAZ). He has been an IAGG council member since 1997. He is the author of "Sinais e Sintomas em Geriatria" which is widely recognized as a major textbook in Geriatrics written by a Brazilian specialist, now in its second edition. Dr. Maia Guimarães has published more than 40 papers and chapters of books, and has presented over 280 papers in scientific meetings in Brazil and abroad. In 2001 he was awarded a distinction for a research he conducted and published in the scientific journal of the Brasilia Medical Association ("Depression: the unrecognized morbidity in the elderly surgical patient"). Dr. Maia Guimarães is involved in community affairs and is often invited to deliver lectures on aging all over the country. His research interests are Alzheimer disease, depression and epidemiology of aging. Dr. Maia Guimarães also has a special interest in mechanisms of aging.

Dr. Gloria Gutman, Immediate Past President of the International Association of Gerontology, developed and directs the Gerontology Research Centre and is Professor Emeritus in the Gerontology Department at Simon Fraser University, in Vancouver, Canada which she also developed. Dr. Gutman served as the 17th President of the International Association of Gerontology from 2001 -2005. Dr. Gutman is the author/editor of twenty books and over 200 scholarly articles, reports, and conference papers. She has been a consultant to the Ministry of Lands, Parks and Housing in B.C., the Continuing Care Division of the B.C. Ministry of Health and to Health Canada. She has served on a number of federal-provincial task forces, including one which established guidelines for comprehensive services for the psychiatrically impaired elderly, and one which developed design guidelines for housing and care facilities for the elderly.

Dr. Gutman's research interests are wide-ranging; they include seniors' housing, long term care, health promotion, dementia care and environmental design. Recent research includes "Behavioral Outcomes of Environmental Design Interventions in a SCU" and "Housing Options for Older Canadians: Case Studies and User Satisfaction." She is currently developing a series of projects to be conducted in the Dr. Tong Louie Living Laboratory, a full-scale simulated residence established to study effective design of environments and products for older persons and adults with disabilities.

Dr. Gutman has been very active in scholarly and community organizations. She was the Founding President of the Gerontology Association of British Columbia and served two terms as President of the Canadian Association on Gerontology (1987-1991). She is a Fellow of the Gerontological Society of America, a member of the National Statistics Council which advises the Chief Statistician of Canada, a member of the World Health Organization's Expert Advisory Panel on Ageing and Health and a director of the International Institute on Ageing - United Nations Malta. Locally, she is co-leader of the British Columbia Network for Aging Research (BCNAR), a Michael Smith Foundation for Health Research Network. Previously she served on the Health Services Subcommittee of the B.C. Health Research Foundation, the Advisory Committee for the L'Chaim Adult Day Care Centre, the Board of Directors of the Louis Briar Home and Hospital for the Aged, the Vancouver-Richmond Health Board's Research and Evaluation Advisory Committee and from 1994-96 was Chair of the Board of the B.C. Institute Against Family Violence. In 2005 INPEA named Dr. Gutman as the recipient of the Rosalie Wolf Memorial Award.

Selected Publications

• Gutman, G.M., Wister, A.V., Adams, R., & Chou, P.H. (2005). Fact book on aging in British Columbia, 4th Edition. Vancouver: Simon Fraser University Gerontology Research Centre.
• McWilliam, C., Gutman, G.M., Penning, M., Mutch, B., Plouffe, L., Stewart, M., & Tamblyn, R. (2005). A national knowledge translation exercise to create evidence-based policy, programs and practice to promote seniors' independence. In: CIHR (Eds.) The IHSPR knowledge translation casebook, Ottawa, Canada: CIHR. (In press).
• Gutman, G.M. (2003). Gerontechnology and the home environment. In N. Charness & W.K. Schaie (Eds.) Impact of technology on successful aging (pp.251-261). New York: Springer Publishing Company.
• Livadiotakis, G., Gutman, G.M., & Hollander, M.J. (2003). Rationing home care resources: How discharged seniors cope. Home Health Care Quarterly, 22(2), 31-42.
• Gutman, G.M., Clarke Scott, M.A. & Gnaedinger, N. (2001). Housing Options for Older Canadians: User Satisfaction Studies. Ottawa: Research Division, Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation.
• Gutman, G.M., Stark, A. Donald, A. & Beattie, B.L. (2001). The contribution of self-reported health ratings to predicting frailty, institutionalization and death over a 5-year period. International Psychogeriatrics, 13 (Suppl 1):223-231
• Gee E.M. & Gutman, G. (Eds.) (2000). The Overselling of Population Aging: Apocalyptic Demography, Intergenerational Challenges and Social Policy. Toronto: Oxford Univerity Press.
• Gutman, G.M. (Ed). (1998). Technology Innovation for an Aging Society: Blending Research, Public and Private Sectors. Vancouver: The Gerontology Research Centre, Simon Fraser University
• Wister, A.V. & Gutman, G.M. (Eds.) (1998). Health Systems and Aging in Selected Pacific Rim Countries: Cultural Diversity and Change. Vancouver: The Gerontology Research Center, Simon Fraser University.
• Wister, A.V. & Gutman, G.M. (1997). Housing Older Canadians: Patterns, Preferences and Policies. Journal of Housing for the Elderly, 12 (1/2), 19-35.
• Gee, E.M. & Gutman, G.M. (Eds.) (1995). Rethinking Retirement. Vancouver: The Gerontology Research Centre, Simon Fraser University.

Dr. Gary Andrews, President of the IAG from 1997 to 2001, is Hononary Professor and Director of the Centre for Ageing Studies, Flinders University of South Australia. Previous posts include serving as Health Commissioner of New South Wales (1976-1979); Professor of Community and Geriatric Medicine University of Sydney and Director, Department of Community Medicine Westmead Centre (1979-1983); Chairman and Chief Executive Officer South Australian Health Commission (1983-1986); Professor, School of Medicine, Flinders University (1986-1989); Director of Clinical Services Julia Farr Centre (1991-1994); and Special Advisor on Ageing to the United Nations (1998/99).
Dr. Andrews’ professional credentials include fellowships in the Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh, Royal Australian College of Medical Administration, Royal Australasian College of Physicians and Faculty of Rehabilitation Medicine (RACP).
He is a past-president of the Australian Geriatrics Society, Australian College of Rehabilitation Medicine, Australian Association of Gerontology and was President of the International Association of Gerontology from 1997-2001. Currently, he is a member of the World Health Organization's Expert Advisory Panel on Ageing and Health; International Advisory Board Asia Training Centre on Ageing, Thailand; Board of Directors - UN International Institute on Ageing (INIA), Malta; Board of Directors, HelpAge International, and Board of Directors, Novartis Foundation for Gerontology.
Dr. Andrews is the principal investigator for the Australian Longitudinal Study of Ageing, a multi-dimensional panel study of persons aged 70+ that has been conducted since 1991 in Adelaide, Australia. He has also been responsible for a series of studies of health and social aspects of aging in more than 16 countries in Asia, the Pacific and in the Middle East under WHO auspices. He has been extensively consulted by WHO, UNFPA, the UN and other international and intergovernmental and NGO agencies, and has published widely in international journals and books.

Distinctions
• Special Testimonial presented by the Secretary-General of the United Nations for outstanding contribution to the United Nations Program on Ageing (1989).
• British Geriatrics Society 50th Anniversary Medal for contributions to international ageing research and geriatric medicine (1996).
• Medal of the Faculty of Rehabilitation Medicine (Royal Australasian College of Physicians) for contributions to rehabilitation medicine (1998)
• Life Membership of Australian Association of Gerontology (1998)
Recent Publications
• Andrews,G. R. (2001). Care of older people: Promoting health and function in an ageing population. British Medical Journal, 322(7288), 728-729.
• Andrews, G.R. (2001). The priority of basic research on ageing vulnerability in a comprehensive research agenda on ageing for the 21st century. Novartis Foundation Symposium, 235: 4-9; discussion 9-10.
• Andrews, G.R. (1998). Epidemiology and aging research. Aging, 10(2): 172-173.
• Andrews, G.R. (1989). Cross-cultural studies: An important development in aging research. Journal of the American Geriatrics Society, 37(5): 483-485
• Andrews, G. & Clark,M.J. (1999). The International Year of Older Persons: Putting aging research onto the political agenda. The Journals of Gerontology, Series B, Psychological sciences and social sciences, 54(1),7-10.
• Andrews, G.R. & Hennink, M.M. (1992). The circumstances and contributions of older persons in three Asian countries: Preliminary results of a cross-national study. Asia-Pacific Population Journal / United Nations,7 (3),127
• Anstey, K. J, Luszcz, M.A, Giles, L.C. & Andrews, G.R. (2001). Demographic, health, cognitive, and sensory variables as predictors of mortality in very old adults. Psychology and Aging, 16(1): 3-11
• Dolinis, J., Harrison, J.E. & Andrews, G.R. (1997). Factors associated with falling in a cohort of Adelaide residents. Australian and New Zealand Journal of Public Health,21 (5): 462