NSU Horizons Spring 2014

24 HORIZONS T hose who can still comprehend what they read when they reach the age of 85 owe a debt to Raymond Ownby , M.D., Ph.D., M.B.A., a leading medical researcher investigating how to prevent age-related cognitive decline and the importance of what’s come to be called health literacy in helping people maintain their well-being. Ownby, professor and chair of the College of Osteopathic Medicine Department of Psychia- try and Behavioral Medicine, has spent much of his 22-year career researching the behavioral and biological aspects of cognition and memory in aging. Author or coauthor of more than 100 papers, he has received a steady stream of research grants from the National Institutes of Health. “The work I’ve done on mood and cognition and the implications of depression is hopefully contributing to identifying disorders and treating them,” said Ownby. Last year, Ownby received the Third Annual Provost’s Research and Scholarship Award from George L. Hanbury II, Ph.D., president and CEO of Nova Southeastern University. “It was a great honor to receive the Pro- vost’s Award from the president of the university,” Ownby said. “Other people who have received it are world-renowned researchers in their fields.” Ownby did not come to psychiatry—or South Florida—by a straight line. He grew up in rural southeastern Ohio, “where it’s kind of hilly and nice,” but he didn’t get interested in psychiatry until college. “I did volunteer activities, including serving on a crisis intervention line, as an undergrad at Ohio University,” he said. “I also did volunteer work with geriatric psychiatric patients at a state hospital. That got me inter- ested in a career in mental health.” After earning a Ph.D. in Psychology and a postdoctorate in neuropsychology, Ownby returned to Northeastern Ohio University College of Medicine to become a psychiatrist. “I came to Florida because of my parents and the weather,” Ownby said. “I came a lot to visit for spring break and Christmas. When the chance arose to con- sider Florida, it was an easy choice.” Ownby completed his residency training in psy- chiatry at the University of Miami, where he stayed on as a faculty member for 10 years. He founded Miami’s Brain Fitness Program at the Center on Aging, researching and developing strat- egies to help people support their mental acuity as they age. He has established a similar brain fitness program at NSU. Research, Ownby said, is an inter- active endeavor, very much dependent upon the environment in which it is conducted. “NSU is a great place to work,” Ownby said. “They’re always very supportive of what we do—the entire organi- zation. The university’s Vision 2020, with its focus on developing NSU as a research institute, fits my skill set perfectly.” Ownby is recognized as an expert not only at NSU or within the psychiatric community, but also in the world at large. He was prominently quoted in a New York Times , May 1, 2013, article about new research on the connection between depression and Alzheimer’s disease. “We can’t prove that depression in your 40s causes Alzheimer’s later in life,” he said. “But we do have evidence that reducing mood disorders is good for you. Not just with Alzheimer’s, but also diabetes, heart attacks, and every impor- tant illness associated with aging.” Depression, Ownby said, is a greater threat to well-being today than it was in earlier eras, Raymond Ownby: Research—An Interactive Endeavor By Chauncey Mabe faculty profile