Nathan W. Shock; Gerontologist Pioneered Aging Research

Nathan W. Shock, 82, a gerontologist who was among the first to explore the physiology of aging on the various organs. As director of the pioneering federal Gerontology Research Center in Baltimore, Dr. Shock and his colleagues did years of research that proved that parts of the body age at different rates, as do individuals. He had moved to Baltimore from Berkeley in 1941 to join the first research program on aging for the National Institutes of Health. He also was scientific director of the National Institute on Aging for a year before retiring in 1976. In Baltimore on Sunday of cancer.