Nicole Brandt, PharmD, MBA, BCGP, BCPP, FASCP
The AGS announced that Nicole Brandt, PharmD, MBA, BCGP, BCPP, FASCP, of the University of Maryland School of Pharmacy will be honored with the 2019 Dennis W. Jahnigen Award celebrating work to train health professionals in the care we all need as we age. A Professor of Pharmacy Practice and Science and Executive Director of the School of Pharmacy’s Peter Lamy Center on Drug Therapy and Aging, Dr. Brandt has dedicated more than two decades to uncovering best practices in medication management for older people and to training fellow pharmacists, doctors, nurses, social workers, and other colleagues in the compassionate, team-based care we all need as we age.
“In her research, leadership, and approach to education, Dr. Brandt embodies all the hallmarks of geriatrics as a ‘team sport,’” notes Laurie G. Jacobs, MD, AGSF, AGS President. “An expert on medication management—one of the most important topics for our patients—Dr. Brandt has helped the AGS build a bridge between that expertise and the training our diverse health workforce needs to keep us all safe, healthy, and independent as we age.”
In her various roles at the University of Maryland School of Pharmacy, where she also earned her Doctor of Pharmacy degree in 1997, Dr. Brandt has been instrumental in advancing interdisciplinary education for a range of students and colleagues. Dr. Brandt developed a geriatrics and palliative care pathway and an accredited geriatrics residency that will be celebrating its 20th year in 2020, for example. Sustained through a generous endowment, the residency program in particular offers pharmacists the opportunity for training outside traditional health facilities and in settings that may be key to supporting health and independence for older adults who prefer to remain at home or in the community.
In further support of Dr. Brandt’s dedication to exemplary education, she also has been instrumental in securing funding for innovative programs benefitting older adults across Maryland. These include a Geriatrics Workforce Enhancement Program (GWEP) grant with Johns Hopkins University to expand the geriatric workforce, an educational grant to improve medication knowledge for providers working in assisted-living settings, and a medication use and safety training grant targeting caregivers and older adults.
An AGS member since 2010, Dr. Brandt has brought her wealth of knowledge and expertise to several high-priority AGS projects, having served as a panelist for updates to the AGS Beers Criteria for Potentially Inappropriate Medication Use in Older Adults in 2012, 2015 and 2019. She has authored or co-authored more than 100 research publications and presentations and has supervised or advised hundreds of students—many of whom now lead geriatrics efforts at health facilities across the U.S.
The late Dennis W. Jahnigen, MD, was a compassionate geriatrician and acclaimed educator who dedicated his life to training future leaders. Today, his namesake award recognizes an AGS member, like Dr. Potter, committed to working with students and advancing geriatrics education in schools of health and medicine. It is one of several honors conferred by the AGS at its Annual Scientific Meeting.
Past Recipients of the Dennis W. Jahnigen Memorial Award
2018 Jane Potter, MD, AGSF
2017 Maura Brennan, MD, AGSF, FACP, FAAHPM, HMDC
2016 Annette (Annie) Medina-Walpole, MD, AGSF
2015 Barbara Resnick, PhD, RN, CRNP, FAAN, FAANP, AGSF
2014 Elizabeth K. Tanner, PhD, RN
2013 Gail Sullivan, MD, MPH
2012 Leo M Cooney, Jr., MD
2011 Sharon A. Levine, MD
2010 G. Paul Eleazer, MD
2009 Samuel C. Durso, MD, MBA
2008 Rosanne M. Leipzig, MD, PhD
2007 Steven R. Counsell, MD
2006 Kenneth Brummel-Smith, MD
2005 Harvey Jay Cohen, MD
2004 Terry T. Fulmer, PhD, RN, FAAN
2003 William Hall, MD, Rochester, NY
2002 Gregg A. Warshaw, MD, Cincinnati, OH
2001 Evelyn C. Granieri, MD, Pittsburgh, PA
2000 David B. Reuben, MD, Los Angeles, CA
1999 John R. Burton, MD