For Immediate Release
May 4, 2004

For Further Information
Erin Weller
(212) 308-1414, ext. 329

New York, NY - Ten new winners of the Dennis W. Jahnigen Career Development Scholars Awards have been selected for 2004. Funded by the John A. Hartford Foundation and The Atlantic Philanthropies, the highly competitive, two-year faculty development awards of $200,000 each provide a foundation upon which individuals can initiate and sustain a career in geriatrics-oriented research and education within the surgical and related medical specialties.

Created through a partnership between the American Geriatrics Society, The John A. Hartford Foundation, and The Atlantic Philanthropies, the awards seek to nurture and support the development of new leaders in surgical and related medical specialties who can bring an understanding of the unique characteristics of older patients to surgical training and practice.

Now entering its third year, the program seeks to ameliorate the shortage of trained academicians with a special interest in and knowledge of the care of older people in surgical and related medical specialties, an area where the average age of patients is rapidly rising and where health outcomes are strongly influenced by the quality of care provided.

Ten young researchers from anesthesiology, emergency medicine, general surgery, gynecology, physical medicine and rehabilitation, ophthalmology, orthopaedic surgery, thoracic surgery and urology and have been selected for this year's awards for their innovative proposals in a host of areas critical to senior health research.

Dr. Paul Katz, Professor of Medicine at the University of Rochester Medical School, and Chair of the Jahnigen Central Committee, was pleased with the proposals received for this year's awards. He noted that, "The quality of the proposals submitted this year is a clear sign of the increasing enthusiasm for geriatrics within the surgical and related medical specialties, not to mention the scientific rigor of the individual investigators. The future looks very bright indeed for the program!"

This year's scholars are:

Anesthesiology
Leanne Groban, MD, Wake Forest University, Winston-Salem, North Carolin
The Role of GH/IGF-1 in Diastolic Heart Failure of Aging

Emergency Medicine
Kevin Terrell, DO, Indiana University School of Medicine, Indianapolis, Indiana
Computer-Assisted Decision Support to Increase the Safety of Prescribing to Older Adults in the Emergency Department

General Surgery
Charles Cha, MD, Yale University School of Medicine, New Haven, Connecticut
Effects of Aging on Tumor Angiogenesis in GI Malignancy
Lisa J Gould, MD, PhD, University of Texas Medical Branch, Galveston, Texas
Mechanisms of Impaired Wound Healing in the Elderly

Gynecology
Karen L. Miller, MD, University of Utah, Salt Lake City, Utah
Gynecologic Surgery, Fall Risk, and Functional Outcomes in Older Women

Ophthalmology
Stephen Tsang, MD, PhD, Columbia University, New York City, New York
A Genetic Dissection of Age-Related Macular Degeneration

Orthopaedic Surgery
Edward V. Fehringer, MD, University of Nebraska Medical Center, Omaha, Nebraska
Full Thickness Rotator Cuff Tear Prevalence and Correlation with Shoulder Function in Patients 65 Years and Older

Physical Medicine & Rehabilitation
Patrick Kortebein, MD, University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences, Little Rock, Arkansas
Resistance Exercise & Prostate Cancer: Effects on Muscle & Quality of Life

Thoracic Surgery
Joseph C. Cleveland, Jr., MD, University of Colorado Health Sciences Center, Denver, Colorado
The Effect of Age Upon Myocardial Production

Urology
Badrinath Konety, MD, University of Iowa, Iowa City, Iowa
Profiling Post-operative Risk in Elderly Patients Undergoing Surgical Intervention for Bladder and other Urologic Cancers

Founded in 1942, the American Geriatrics Society (AGS) 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 education on the clinical care of older people; research; public education and information; public policy efforts; and through collaborative relationships with other organizations. For more information about AGS programs and initiatives, visit the AGS Web site at www.americangeriatrics.org