Prof. Derek Isaacowitz (PSYC) received the Margret M. and Paul B. Baltes Foundation Award in Behavioral and Social Gerontology for his work exploring emotion regulation in older people, according to an Oct. 15 University press release. The Baltes Award is given to recognize early-career achievements in the field of gerontology and will be awarded at the Gerontological Society of America's 62nd Annual Meeting from Nov. 18 to 22.

The award is given by the Gerontological Society of America-"the oldest and largest interdisciplinary organization devoted to research, education, and practice in the field of aging," as described on its Web site.

A recipient must have held a Ph.D. for less than 10 years to be eligible for the award, states the award's Web site.

"Of course it's really nice to have the work that I've done so far acknowledged," said Isaacowitz in an interview with the Justice.

He also said that the award has special significance for him because it is named after two people who helped him to develop as a psychologist.

"[The award is] named after Paul and Margret Baltes, who are two of the real founders of the field of adult development and aging in psychology. . It's especially meaningful for me because both of them, particularly Paul Baltes, played some role in mentoring me when I was a grad student in particular and also when I started at Brandeis," Isaacowitz said.

"Derek has been a treasure to our Department and to Brandeis, and I believe he will continue to be so," said Prof. Malcom Watson (PSYC), the chair of the Psychology department, in an e-mail to the Justice.

"His research is valuable because he has developed new methodologies to study how we regulate our emotional well being, especially as we get older. Now his work is influencing many other researchers in the field," he wrote.

"And on top of all this, he is such a nice guy," Watson wrote.

Jonah Cohen '10, who works in Isaacowitz's Emotion Laboratory and is currently doing research for his thesis there, praised his professor in an e-mail to the Justice.

"[Isaacowitz] . genuinely cares about each of his students on an individual level. The opportunity to pursue my own work under the supervision and guidance of Professor Isaacowitz has, so far, been one of the most rewarding and challenging academic experiences at my time at Brandeis," Cohen wrote.

Jesse Hershman '10, another thesis student, expressed similar feelings in an e-mail to the Justice.

"Professor Isaacowitz is a great leader. . He's incredibly bright, motivated, and his work ethic is really admirable," he wrote.

Hershman also described Isaacowitz's course, "Social Psychology," as "one of the best courses I've had at Brandeis."

Isaacowitz said that the research he conducts "has to do with understanding how people of different ages regulate their emotions and in particular how older people regulate how they feel in trying to maintain good moods in the face of all the changes that happen to them as they get older."

He went on to describe the important role of eye tracking, which determines where a person directs his gaze while taking in an image, in much of the research that he conducts.

Isaacowitz explained that eye tracking gives valuable information regarding how people of different ages engage visually with different types of emotional visual stimuli.

Isaacowitz is currently researching whether it is possible to predict mood changes in real time using the types of eye tracking methods he described to the Justice.

He is also working on determining the different ways that information should be presented to people of varying ages in order to provide them with the best education about their health.