Exercise and Its Mediating Effects on Cognition

Waneen W. Spirduso, EdD, is the Oscar and Anne Mauzy Regents Professor in the department of kinesiology and health education at the University of Texas (UT) at Austin. She was chair of the UT department of kinesiology and health education for 14 years and served as interim dean of the College of Education for 2-1/2 years. Since 1975 her academic interests, research, and presentations have focused on issues central to gerontology and kinesiology, and her research programs have been sponsored by four of the National Institutes of Health and several local foundations.

A widely published author, Dr. Spirduso is also a popular speaker at conferences across the United States. She is the recipient of many honors and awards, including recognition as the Texas Association for Health, Physical Education, Recreation and Dance Scholar in 1986 and the American Alliance for Health, Physical Education, Recreation and Dance Scholar (AAHPERD) in 1987. She served two terms as president of the North American Society for the Psychology of Sport and Physical Activity (NASPSPA) and one term as president of the American Academy of Kinesiology and Physical Education (AAKPE).

Dr. Spirduso is a fellow of the Gerontological Society of America and a member of AAHPERD, ACSM, and AAKPE.

Leonard W. Poon, PhD, is a professor of public health and psychology, chair of the faculty of gerontology, and director of the Gerontology Center at the University of Georgia at Athens. He received his PhD in experimental psychology in 1972 from the University of Denver and has studied aging and cognition for over 30 years with specific emphasis on environmental and lifestyle influences that enhance cognitive functioning in older adults.

A fellow of the American Psychological Association, American Psychological Society, Association of Gerontology in Higher Education, and the Gerontology Society of America, Poon was a Fulbright senior research scholar in Sweden and a senior visiting research scientist to Japan. In 2000, Poon received an honorary doctorate of philosophy from Lund University in Sweden. Among his research awards are the NIA Special Research Award, VA Medical Research Service Achievement Award, North American Leader in Psychogeriatrics, and Southern Gerontological Society Academic Gerontologist Award.

Poon's primary research areas are normal and pathological changes of memory processes in aging, clinical assessment of memory (including assessment of early stages of dementia of the Alzheimer's type), and survival characteristics and adaptation of centenarians. He is currently directing a nine-university, NIA-funded program studying the genetic basis of longevity, relationships between the brain and behavior in Alzheimer's disease, and daily functioning capacities of the oldest old.

Poon currently resides in Athens, Georgia. In his free time he enjoys cycling, photography, and traveling.


Wojtek Chodzko-Zajko, PhD, serves as both department head and professor of kinesiology and community health at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. He served on the World Health Organization Scientific Advisory Committee, which issued guidelines for physical activity in older adults. Chodzko-Zajko chairs the Active Aging Partnership, a national coalition in the area of healthy aging linking the American College of Sports Medicine, the National Institute of Aging, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the American Geriatrics Society, the National Council on the Aging, the American Association of Retired Persons, and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.

Since 2002, Chodzko-Zajko has served as principal investigator of the National Blueprint Project, a coalition of more than 50 national organizations with a joint commitment to promoting independent, active aging in the 50+ population. He was founding editor of the Journal of Aging and Physical Activity and president of the International Society for Aging and Physical Activity.

He is frequently invited to speak about healthful aging at national and international meetings. Chodzko-Zajko has appeared often on television and radio, including the NBC "Today Show," National Public Radio, and CNN.