2021 Ryman Prize aims to enhance life for older people

Entries are now open for the 2021 Ryman Prize — an international award aimed at encouraging the best and brightest thinkers in the world to focus on ways to improve the health of older people.

Administered by the Ryman Foundation, the annual Ryman Prize consists of a NZ$250,000 (AU$233,000) grant which is awarded by an international jury. The prize is open to anyone in the world, including teams, and may be awarded for a mechanical device, an invention, a discovery, a study, a book, an initiative, an invention, a proven idea, a completed research project or any other advance that enhances life for older people.

The Ryman Prize was established in 2015, to create the equivalent of a Nobel Prize for people working in the field of the health of older people, and was first awarded to Gabi Hollows, co-founder of the Fred Hollows Foundation, for her tireless work to restore sight for millions of older people in the developing world. Since then world-leading researchers and inventors Professor Henry Brodaty, Professor Peter St George-Hyslop, Professor Takanori Shibata and Dr Michael Fehlings have all won the prize for their outstanding work.

In 2020 Professor Miia Kivipelto, a Finnish scientist whose research into the causes of Alzheimer’s and dementia has had a worldwide impact, was awarded the prize by New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern. Among other achievements, Prof Kivipelto is the principal investigator behind the world-leading Finnish Geriatric Intervention Study to Prevent Cognitive Impairment and Disability (FINGER study) — the first large-scale trial that showed multi-domain lifestyle-based interventions can reduce the risk of cognitive and functional decline among elderly persons who have increased risk for dementia.

For more information on how to apply or nominate for the Ryman Prize, visit https://www.rymanhealthcare.co.nz/the-ryman-prize/applications. Entries for the 2021 prize close on Friday, 16 July at 5 pm (New Zealand time).

Image credit: ©stock.adobe.com/au/perfectlab

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