Congratulations to Ryan J. Downey, postdoctoral associate, for being selected to receive the NIH Loan Repayment Program Award.

Downey was funded through his project titled, Mobile Brain Imaging Assessment of Declining Mobility with Aging. This project aims to identify neural correlates of walking in older adults that lead to mobility decline. Downey will examine brain activity with electroencephalography (EEG) as older adults walk over rough terrain of varying difficulty. The knowledge gained from this project could lead to improved walking interventions.

The NIH Loan Repayment Programs are a set of programs established by Congress and designed to recruit and retain highly qualified health professionals into biomedical or biobehavioral research careers. The escalating costs of advanced education and training in medicine and clinical specialties are forcing some scientists to abandon their research careers for higher-paying private industry or private practice careers.