Blanka Rogina, M.S., Ph.D. begins her 1-year term as vice president of the GSA this January.
Blanka Rogina, Ph.D. professor, Genetics and Genome Sciences, UConn School of Medicine.
Blanka Rogina, M.S., Ph.D., of the UConn School of Medicine has been newly elected vice president of the Gerontological Society of America (GSA). Rogina will serve a 1-year term in this national leadership position, beginning January 2026.
Following the end of her vice president role, Rogina will assume the role of president of the GSA in 2027 and then chair of its Board of Directors in 2028.
The GSA is the nation's oldest and largest interdisciplinary organization focused on aging with over 6,600 members from over 50 countries. GSA has six membership groups based on fields of interest including physicians, dentists, basic scientists, nurses, pharmacists, nutritionists, social workers, psychologists, sociologists, epidemiologists, policy makers, among others.
"I am honored to be selected for this prestigious leadership role," shares Rogina whose tenure with the GSA has been longstanding.
She joined the GSA in 1995 and was elected Fellow of the GSA in 2019. In 2021 Rogina started serving four years in various other GSA leadership roles including: Biological Science (BioSci) section serving as Vice-Chair Elect (2022), BioSci Vice Chair (2023), Chair of BioSci (2024), and Past Chair (2025). In 2023, Rogina as Vice-Chair of the 2023 BioSci scientific program organized the Annual GSA Meeting in Tampa, Florida. Rogina also served a number of other positions such as a member of the Award Committee, a member of the GSA Program, Publications, and Products Committee, a member of the GSA Membership Committee and organized a number of webinars.
Reflecting on her previous contributions to the GSA, Rogina shared her future ambitions.
"It my goal to continue to promote scientific gatherings that allow exchanging of scientific findings, ideas and endorse collaborations between different GSA sections. I see interdisciplinary research and collaboration essential for our understanding of the basic biology of aging that may be applied to promote healthy aging and the development of therapies to delay the onset of age-associated decline," said Rogina.
Rogina serves UConn School of Medicine as professor of Genetics and Genome Sciences and is an affiliated investigator of the UConn Center on Aging. Her research focus is to identify and characterize molecular mechanisms of aging and to find key players that contribute to extended healthspan and longevity-placing her squarely as an expert in gerontology. Her work has been funded by the American Federation of Aging Research, the National Institutes of Health (NIA and NIEHS), and The Glenn Award for Research in Biological Mechanisms of Aging.
Rogina has been also involved in teaching and mentoring graduate students and postdoctoral fellows at UConn. She served as the director of the Genetics and Developmental Biology Graduate Program for nine years. Rogina is currently the chair of the UConn-Canaan Fellowship Program Committee and the PESC-Core Co-Leader of the UConn Claude D. Pepper Older Americans Independence Center.
"Dr. Rogina is a highly respected leader in aging research and education and is well deserving of this important leadership role. I am excited to see the growing impact she will have on the Gerontological Society of America," applauds Brenton Graveley, Ph.D., professor and chair of Genetics and Genome Sciences and the Health Net, Inc. Endowed Chair in Genetics and Developmental Biology at UConn School of Medicine.
"Given Dr Rogina's scientific contributions to our understanding of genetic and metabolic factors in aging, plus her commitment to interdisciplinary research and education, I am certain that she is poised to make a great impact in this important leadership position," shared Dr. George Kuchel, director of the UConn Center on Aging, director of the UConn Older Americans Independence (Pepper) Center, and professor and Travelers Chair in Geriatrics and Gerontology at UConn School of Medicine.
