CHAMPAIGN, Ill. – Two University of Illinois students have won 2008-2009 Paul D. Doolen graduate scholarships for the study of aging. Each will receive $5,000 to continue their research.
Katherine Morris, of North East, Pa., winner of the Doolen award in the behavioral-social sciences category, is pursuing a doctorate in kinesiology and community health. She is interested in developing methods to improve the motor functions and physical activity of people making the transition to life in assisted-living facilities. Morris received her bachelor’s degrees from Pennsylvania State University and a master’s degree from Illinois.
Matthew Thorpe, of Provo, Utah, who won the Doolen award in the biological-biomedical sciences category, is enrolled in the campus’s Medical Scholars Program and is pursuing a doctorate in nutritional sciences and a medical degree from the university’s Chicago campus. Thorpe received his bachelor’s degree in family and human development from Brigham Young University. His research focuses on the connection between nutrition and bone frailty in the elderly. He is studying the role that protein intake plays in the development of osteoporosis.
The Doolen Scholarship is awarded annually to graduate students in their second year of study or beyond whose principal scholarly interest is in the field of aging. The scholarship was established in 1986 by an endowment from the Retirement Research Foundation, Oak Park, Ill., to honor the late Paul D. Doolen, a longtime member of the foundation’s board of directors and a 1927 Illinois graduate.
