A Brunel University London researcher has been named winner of the 2017 British Society of Gerontology Outstanding Achievement Award, in honour of her significant contribution to the public understanding of ageing.
Professor Christina Victor has received the Society’s highest honour for a body of research which has advanced global knowledge of loneliness, social isolation, ethnicity, health, and wellbeing in later life, and inspired international scholarship in these fields.
Professor Victor’s work, including her noteworthy contributions to the development of the Campaign to End Loneliness, has been recognised by policymakers, campaigners and practitioners and helped shaping gerontological thinking, research, education and practice through scholarly publications and editorial responsibilities.
She has written over 200 journal articles and book chapters, has published eight books in the field of gerontology and is currently Editor-in-Chief of the journal Ageing and Society, which has achieved its highest impact factor of 1.8 under Professor Victor’s leadership, and now ranks as the top European journal on ageing.
The Society also noted Professor Victor’s continued dedication to educating and mentoring health and social care practitioners entering clinical practice with older people and their families, and her guidance for fellow academics in the field.
Upon receiving the award, Professor Victor said: “I am very proud to have been given this award by the British Society of Gerontology, which also recognises the strength of ageing research here at Brunel. In accepting this award I would like to take the opportunity to thank the many colleagues who have helped me during my career.”
Professor Susan Jobling, Head of the Institute of Environment, Health and Societies at Brunel, added: “Christina has made us all proud with this achievement. After years of hard work, dedication and discipline, she truly deserves this award. As Institute Director, I salute her unwavering commitment to the study of ageing and to the public understanding of this topic.”
Professor Victor holds a BA in Geography from Swansea and an M Phil in Medical Geography from Nottingham. Her academic career began as a geographer with a particular interest in the spatial distribution of health and illness and access to, and provision of, health and social care. After holding professorial roles at St George’s University of London and the University of Reading she joined Brunel in October 2009 as Professor of Gerontology and Public Health. She is based in the College of Health and Life Sciences, where she is Vice Dean (Research) and in the Institute of Environment, Health and Societies where she leads the Ageing Studies theme.
The British Society of Gerontology established the award in 2007 to honour outstanding achievement in gerontological scholarship, research, education or policy. The annual award is given to those who have made a significant and lasting impact on the policy process and through this have helped to improve the lives of older people.
The awards panel is Chaired by Professor Alan Walker, the first recipient of the award, and in 2017 comprised Tessa Harding (former winner), the current and past Presidents of the Society (Debora Price and Sheila Peace), Jane Vass, the Head of Public Policy at AgeUK, the country’s largest charity dedicated to promoting wellbeing in later life, and David Sinclair, the Director of ILC-UK, one of the country’s leading think tanks focused on the societal impact of our ageing demography.
Professor Clare Wenger from the University of Oxford is this year’s joint award recipient.
Professor Victor and Professor Wenger received the award at the 46th Annual Conference of the British Society of Gerontology at the University of Swansea on Wednesday 5 July 2017.
Reported by:
Sarah Cox,
Media Relations
sarah.cox@brunel.ac.uk