TUSCALOOSA, Ala. - A University of Alabama psychologist has been appointed to the national advisory council of the National Institute of Nursing Research, a part of the National Institutes of Health.

Dr. Lou Burgio, professor of psychology and director of UA’s Applied Gerontology Program, was appointed to the council by Tommy Thompson, secretary of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.

Burgio is the first psychologist ever appointed to the council, which recommends to the Institute director which research applications should be approved and considered for funding. The appointment runs through Jan. 30, 2006.

The National Institute of Nursing Research has an annual budget of approximately $120 million, about 77 percent of which is used for research conducted in universities and research establishments across the country.

Burgio has done extensive research in applied gerontology, focusing on developing interventions for the behavioral complications of dementia in nursing homes and working with dementia caregivers in the community to ease the stress and burden of caregiving.