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For Immediate Release
May 3, 2006

For more information:
Erin Weller
(212) 308-1414 x 329

New York, NY - The American Geriatrics Society, The John A. Hartford Foundation, The Atlantic Philanthropies, and the AGS Foundation for Health in Aging recently announced new career development awards of more than $2.2 million to 16 physician-scientists, supporting their cutting-edge research to improve health care for the nation's rapidly growing population of older adults.

The awards are aimed at generating needed geriatrics knowledge and helping ease the critical shortage of physician-researchers with expertise in meeting the unique health care needs of older people.

This is an increasingly pressing issue. The first of the nation's 77 million Baby Boomers turned 60 this year, and the number of Americans 65 and older will double in less than 25 years. Already, older adults make up a large percentage of the nation's hospital and out-patient populations.

"Now, more than ever, we need to recognize and encourage talented physician-researchers - clinician-scientists who will play a key role in improving the care we provide the growing number of older Americans," said David Reuben, MD, President of the American Geriatrics Society and director of the UCLA Multi-campus Program in Geriatric Medicine and Gerontology at the UCLA School of Medicine.

Eleven academic researchers were selected as recipients of Dennis W. Jahnigen Career Development Scholars Awards. These address the shortage of academicians in surgical and other medical specialties who have a special interest in, and knowledge of, the care of older adults. In each of these specialties, the average age of patients is rising rapidly. Administered by the American Geriatrics Society, the awards are supported by grants from The John A. Hartford Foundation and The Atlantic Philanthropies.

Over the course of two years, Jahnigen scholars receive $150,000 each, with their institutions providing an additional $50,000 in matching support. The award helps promising academic specialists start and sustain careers in both education and research that are focused on aging issues. The Jahnigen awards go to faculty in the specialties of: anesthesiology, emergency medicine, general surgery, gynecology, ophthalmology, orthopedic surgery, otolaryngology, physical medicine and rehabilitation, thoracic surgery, and urology.

This year's winners will pursue research investigating, among other things: helping older adults with arthritis remain as independent as possible and using computer systems to improve the sharing of patient information when older adults are transferred from nursing homes to emergency rooms. For a list of winners and their research focus, please see below.

Four physician-researchers received Hartford Geriatrics Health Outcomes Research Scholars Awards, sponsored and funded by the American Geriatrics Society's Foundation for Health in Aging and The John A. Hartford Foundation. The awards support physician-scientists committed to improving the health care of older adults while they make the critical transition from junior faculty to independent researcher.

Over two years, Hartford Outcomes Award winners receive $130,000 each in salary and research support. This year's winners will conduct research investigating a range of topics, including breast cancer screening among "oldest-old" women and measuring the quality of care for the hospitalized frail elderly. A list of recipients and their proposed research appears below.

The T. Franklin Williams Research Scholars Award went to Diana Kerwin, MD, of the Medical College of Wisconsin for her research into the effects of body mass, body fat distribution and vascular risk factors on cognitive performance in postmenopausal women.

The award goes to academic geriatricians conducting research applicable to care provided by sub-specialists in internal medicine. Winners receive $75,000 over two years. Intended to help medical academics begin and sustain careers in research and education, the award is administered by the American Geriatrics Society's Foundation for Health in Aging (FHA) in collaboration with the Association for Subspecialty Professors (ASP). It is supported by a grant from The Atlantic Philanthropies. The award is part of a broader effort in internal medicine, in which specialty medical societies collaborate with ASP and The Atlantic Philanthropies to support research on aging. For the Williams award, AGS' FHA is partnering with ASP to support a geriatrician.

The 2006 Dennis W. Jahnigen Career Development Scholars Awards winners are:

Anesthesiology
Ellen Flanagan, MD, of Duke University, Durham, NC
For "Post surgical Outcomes of Elderly and Old Elderly Patients with DNR Orders"

Zhongcong Xie, MD, PhD, of Massachusetts General Hospital/Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA
For "Anesthesia and Alzheimer's Disease"

Emergency Medicine
Christopher Carpenter, MD, of Washington University at St. Louis, St. Louis, MO
For "Non-Traumatic, Acute Abdominal Pain in ED Elderly, a Series of Systematic Reviews and a Clinical Consensus Conference"

Fredric Hustey, MD, of The Cleveland Clinic Foundation, Cleveland, OH
For "The Use of a Computerized System to Improve Information Transfer During Patient Transition from Skilled Nursing Facilities to the Emergency Department"

Benjamin Sun, MD, MPP, of Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA, Los Angeles, CA
For "Identification of "Low Risk" Older Patients with Syncope"

General Surgery
Gregory S. Cherr, MD, of Buffalo General Hospital, Buffalo, NY
For "Determinants of Health-Related Quality of Life"

Jason Johanning, MD, of the University of Nebraska, Omaha, NE
For "Evaluation of Gait Abnormalities in Geriatric Patients Induced by Peripheral Arterial Disease Utilizing Advanced Biomedical Measures"

Julie Ann Sosa, MD, of Yale University School of Medicine, New Haven, CT
For "A Multi-Institutional Randomized Controlled Trial Measuring the Effects of Surgery on Depression, Memory and Concentration Among Elderly Patients with Asymptomatic Primary Hypothyroidism"

Otolaryngology
John Schweinfurth, MD, of the University of Mississippi, Jackson, MS
For "Assessment of Swallowing Outcomes Following Neuromuscular Electrical Stimulation Therapy in Stroke Victims"

Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation
Pablo Celnik, MD, of Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD
For "Use Dependent Plasticity in Frail Older Adults"

Neil A. Segal, MD, of the University of Iowa College of Medicine, Iowa City, IA
For "Enabling Elders with Knee Osteoarthritis Through Reducing Functional Limitations"

The 2006 Hartford Geriatrics Health Outcomes Research Scholars Award Winners are:

Vineet Arora, MD, MA, of the University of Chicago
For "Measuring the Quality of Care for Hospitalized Vulnerable Elders"

S. Nicole Hastings, MD, of Duke University
For "Incidence and Predictors of Adverse Outcomes in Older Adults Discharged from the Emergency Department"

Aanand D. Naik, MD, of Baylor College of Medicine
For "Goal-Setting for Older Adults with Multiple Morbid Conditions"

Mara Schonberg, MD, MPH, of Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center
For "Breast Cancer Screening Characteristics and Outcomes Among Oldest-old Women"

The 2006 T. Franklin Williams Research Scholar Award Winner is:

Diana Kerwin, MD, of the Medical College of Wisconsin
For "The Association Between Body Mass, Body Fat Distribution and Vascular Risk Factors on Functional MRI and Cognitive Performance in Postmenopausal Women."

ABOUT THE AGS
Founded in 1942, the American Geriatrics Society (www.americangeriatrics.org) is a nationwide, not-for-profit association of geriatrics health care professionals dedicated to improving the health, independence, and quality of life of all older people. The Society supports this mission through activities in clinical practice, professional and public education, research, and public policy. With an active membership of over 6,500 health care professionals, the Society has become a pivotal force in shaping attitudes, policies, and practices in geriatric medicine.