Dr. Ewald Busse, an early leader in the field of geriatric psychiatry and a founder of the Center for Aging and Human Development at Duke University, has died in Durham, N.C., at 86, according to his daughter, Barbara Busse.
Dr. Busse, who died March 7, was chairman of the psychiatry department at the Duke Medical School when he began a novel program in 1954 to study the physiological, psychological and social aspects of aging. Previous studies had focused on elderly people living in institutions; Dr. Busse recruited healthy volunteers older than 60 to participate in a long-term program to see how they aged in familiar surroundings.
With a grant from the National Institutes of Health in 1957, Dr. Busse established the Center for Aging and expanded his research. His program, known as the Duke Longitudinal Study, involved 800 older adults who submitted to rigorous medical and psychological examinations over 25 years. His findings increased understanding of the physical, mental, social and economic aspects of aging.
Born in St. Louis, he graduated from the Washington University School of Medicine. He retired from Duke in 1987.
Survivors include his wife, Ortrude, and three daughters.
