Marie A. Bernard, MD, Named Deputy Director of National Institute on Aging

NIA's New Second-in-Command Credits Hartford Leadership
Scholars Programs With Helping Her Prepare For Role

For Marie A. Bernard, MD, who took over as Deputy Director of the National Institute on Aging in October, the decision to apply for the No. 2 post at the agency that leads federal aging research efforts came after considerable deliberation.

"I really had to think about it because I was very happy at Oklahoma; I had opportunities to be very creative developing the department there," said Dr. Bernard, who was the founding Chairman of the Reynolds Department of Geriatrics at the University of Oklahoma College of Medicine, and viewed her role with the department as her most significant professional accomplishment to date. When tapped for the NIA position, she'd been at Oklahoma for 18 years and was not only the chair and a professor in the geriatrics department, but also the Associate Chief of Staff for Geriatrics and Extended Care at the Oklahoma City Veterans Affairs Medical Center.

Colleagues in the field, however, urged her to consider the NIA post. And, while participating in the Hartford Geriatrics Senior Leadership Scholars Program last year, she began giving it careful thought. The senior leadership program is one of two companion leadership programs funded by the John A. Hartford Foundation and administered by the Association of Directors of Geriatric Academic Programs (ADGAP). Dr. Bernard completed both programs.

"Being in the senior leadership program really helped me think it through," Dr. Bernard recalled in an interview prior to starting her new job at the NIA. "It made me think: "Am I going to be in Oklahoma in the next 15 to 20 years, and if so, where will I be?" Ultimately, it was the opportunity to have a wider impact at the NIA that led her to apply for and accept the Deputy Director's post, she explains.

At the NIA, Dr. Bernard takes the place of Judith Salerno, MD, who left the agency to become Executive Officer of the Institute of Medicine. Reporting to NIA Director Richard J. Hodes, MD, Dr. Bernard "will take a major leadership role in directing the nation's research program on aging and on age-related cognitive change," the agency announced in October, shortly before this issue of AGS News went to press.

"Throughout her career, Dr. Bernard has sought to support and improve the evidence base which forms the foundation for geriatrics and the care of older people," Dr. Hodes noted, announcing the appointment. "I look forward to bringing her expertise and energy to the NIA, as we continue our efforts to address the needs of the aging population."

The daughter of two physicians, Dr. Bernard graduated cum laude from Bryn Mawr College with honors in chemistry, and earned her MD at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine. In 1980, she completed her residency at Temple University Hospital, where she was chief resident. Dr. Bernard held several positions at Temple's School of Medicine. Starting as an Instructor in Medicine, she then served as Associate Professor of Medicine in the Division of General Internal Medicine, Director of Medical Clinics, and Assistant Dean for Admissions. Early in her medical career, she recalls, she found she was more interested in older patients, who had more complex health problems and more life experiences than younger adults. This growing interest led her to complete a mini-fellowship at the Geriatric Education Center (GEC) of Pennsylvania in 1987.

"The mini-fellowship was an epiphany for me," Dr. Bernard says. "Prior to doing the mini-fellowship I thought that I knew geriatrics, because I was skilled in diagnosing and treating hypertension, diabetes and other conditions common among older adults. The training at the GEC opened my eyes to the fact that there is a lot more to the care of the elderly - particularly the focus on function and quality of life, geriatric syndromes and interactions within interdisciplinary teams."

In 1990, Dr. Bernard was recruited by the University of Oklahoma, which then had a geriatrics program in its Department of Internal Medicine. Seven years later, when Oklahoma's Department of Geriatric Medicine launched with the support of a $11.2 million grant from the Reynolds Foundation and $10 million from the state of Oklahoma, it was only the third department of geriatrics in the nation. As its founding director, Dr. Bernard led efforts that, among other things, greatly expanded the geriatrics faculty, and instituted a required four-week geriatrics rotation for all third year medical students and geriatrics training for trainees at all levels. Oklahoma has had a geriatrics fellowship program since 1995, and the geriatrics department has been home to the Oklahoma Geriatric Education Center (GEC), established in 1989, since the department's founding in 1997. Dr. Bernard became director of the GEC in 1992. In 2007, the geriatrics department received an additional $7.5 million from the Reynolds Foundation to further enhance its research work, with a focus on neurodegenerative problems of aging and sarcopenia.

"The Hartford Scholars programs really helped me hone in and focus on personal and organizational skills needed to make all of that happen," at Oklahoma, says Dr. Bernard, who participated in the first of the two Hartford Scholars programs - the Harford Geriatric Leadership Scholars Program - from 2001 to 2004. The program offers newly appointed directors of geriatric academic programs intensive leadership training. Participating in the companion Senior Leadership Scholars Program - designed to guide senior geriatrics academic program leaders as they advance to nationally prominent positions and prepare them to serve as role models for future leaders in the field - was also invaluable, Dr. Bernard says. "Both Hartford leadership scholars programs were pivotal in my ending up in the new position," at the NIA, she adds.

"Sometimes leadership training can help people take full advantage of their natural talents; Dr. Bernard is a clear example of such a talented geriatrician," says David B. Reuben, MD, one of the directors of the scholars programs and head of the UCLA Multicampus Program in Geriatric Medicine and Gerontology. "The Hartford-ADGAP Leadership Scholars and Senior Leadership Programs are extremely proud of Dr. Bernard and her advancement to this national leadership role."

Though she has been tapped, increasingly, for administrative roles over the course of her career, research is one of Dr. Bernard's key interests. Her own research has focused on nutrition and function in older adults, with particular emphasis on ethnic minorities. She has written numerous journal articles and chapters on geriatric care, nutrition, medication issues and health problems among minorities.

From 2002 to 2005, Dr. Bernard was a member of the NIA's National Advisory Council on Aging, during which time she chaired the Minority Task Force. She has also been a member of the AGS Board of Directors, and President and Chair of the Board of ADGAP. She was a member of the Institute of Medicine (IOM) committee that wrote the groundbreaking "Retooling for an Aging America: Building the Health Care Workforce," which was released in April. In addition, Dr. Bernard has chaired the Department of Veterans Affairs' National Research Advisory Council; and been a member of Board of Directors of the Alliance for Aging Research and of other organizations dedicated to improving healthcare for older adults.

"The work that comes from the Institute serves as the basis of much of what we do in geriatric medicine," Dr. Bernard noted in a statement released the day her appointment was announced. "It is a great privilege for me to join the NIA team and help in developing future directions for that research. There is quite a bit yet to do, particularly as we face the "silver tsunami" of baby boomers that will start turning 65 in 2011. There will be particular challenges, since there will be even greater diversity in this population as a result of increased numbers of minority and ethnic elders."

Dr. Bernard was interviewed for this story prior to assuming her new role as Deputy Director of the NIA.