The Health in Aging Foundation New Investigator Awards are presented to individuals whose original research, as presented in a submitted abstract for an AGS Annual Scientific Meeting, reflects new and relevant research in geriatrics. The award is designed to recognize individuals who are committed to a career in aging research.
2026 Recipients:
- Leah V. Estrada, PhD, RN
- Natalia Festa, MD, MHS, MBA
- Kerry Sheets, MD, MS
- Mfon Umoh, MD, PhD
Leah Estrada, PhD, RN is an Assistant Professor in the Brookdale Department of Geriatrics and Palliative Medicine at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai and a Nurse Scientist in the Center for Nursing Research and Innovation at the Mount Sinai Health System. Her work is focused on identifying and addressing disparities in dementia care for underserved populations. Her passion for her aging research is driven from personal and professional experiences as a daughter of immigrants, a first-generation college student, and caregiver. She has received 7 competitive grants from the National Institutes of Health, the National Palliative Care Research Center, and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. She has 23 publications, 12 of which are first author, on her work in aging. She is a rising leader in the field of aging research and well on her way to establishing an independent research career and making significant contributions in aging.
Natalia Festa, MD, MPH, MBA, a geriatrician and Assistant Professor at Yale University, has established an innovative research program at the interface of health services research and gerontology. Her work is defined by its methodological depth across two distinct, high-impact domains: first, policy-relevant spatial analysis of nursing home outcomes, supported by an NIA R03 GEMSSTAR and Claude D. Pepper OAIC Scholar Award; and second, the science of Alzheimer’s Disease and Related Dementias (ADRD) measurement, for which she is supported by the NIA-funded Geriatric Emergency care Applied Research (GEAR) Network. Her abstract introduces the first severity-stratified predictive models to identify undiagnosed dementia in the Emergency Department, achieving excellent overall and robust severity-specific discrimination. Her findings reveal that the predictors of underdiagnosis are not static but evolve with the natural progression of ADRD. This research provides a scalable instrument to lessen the substantial burden of underdiagnosis within the emergency department.
Kerry Sheets, MD, MS is an Assistant Professor of Medicine at the University of Minnesota and practicing geriatrician at Hennepin Healthcare, a safety-net healthcare system in Minneapolis, Minnesota. She completed medical school at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, an internal medicine residency and chief residency at Johns Hopkins Bayview Medical Center, and a geriatric medicine fellowship at Hennepin Healthcare. Her research focuses on active lifespan and the intersections of cognitive and physical function in older adults. An early-stage investigator, Dr. Sheets was awarded a Scholar award from the Minnesota Learning Health System Embedded Scientist Training and Research Program. She also received a pilot study award from the NIA Alzheimer’s Diagnosis in Older Adults with Chronic Conditions Consortium to determine the effects of kidney function on serum levels of brain-derived tau, a novel blood-based biomarker of Alzheimer’s Disease. Dr. Sheets has presented her research at international meetings and conferences, including at the 2024 AGS Annual Scientific Meeting.
Mfon Umoh, MD, PhD is a rising star in Geriatrics, making significant strides in understanding and improving cognitive health among older adults. Her journey began at the University of Pennsylvania and continued through an MD/PhD program at Emory University, residency, and Geriatric Medicine fellowship at Johns Hopkins. Dr. Umoh has a robust research portfolio. She has published on delirium, dementia, and social isolation, contributing valuable insights to address cognitive decline in aging populations. Dr. Umoh has demonstrated exceptional leadership by mentoring trainees and has been actively engaged in the American Geriatric Society and the American Delirium Society. Her innovative projects, supported by competitive grants (from the Hopkins Economics of Alzheimer's Disease and Services Center, and K12 Clinical Research Scholar program), delve into the biological and social determinants of cognitive health. Dr. Umoh is poised to advance the field of Geriatrics, with a clear dedication to enhancing cognitive outcomes in older adults.
Past Recipients of the Health in Aging Foundation New Investigator Award:
2026 Awardees
Leah V. Estrada, PhD, RN
Natalia Festa, MD, MHS, MBA
Kerry Sheets, MD, MS
Mfon Umoh, MD, PhD
2025 Awardees
Lolita Sai Nidadavolu, MD, PhD
Rebecca Rodin, MD, MSc
Surbhi Singhal, MD
Nathan Stall, MD, PhD
2024 Awardees
Sandra Shi, MD, MPH
Snigdha Jain, MD, MHS
Matthew Growdon, MD, MPH
Reuben Ng, PhD
2023 Awardees
Cameron Gettel, MD, MHS
Kaley Hayes, PharmD, PhD
Sara C. LaHue, MD
Brian E McGarry, PT, PhD
2022 Awardees
Jason Falvey, PT, DPT, PhD
Kenneth Lam, MD, MAS
Jasmine Travers, PhD, MHS, RN, AGPCNP-BC
Scott Martin Vouri, PharmD, PhD
2021 Awardees
Scott Bauer, MD, MS
Kah Poh (Melissa) Loh, MBBCh, BAO
Stephanie Nothelle, MD
Ambarish Pandey, MD, MSCS
2020 Awardees
Ashwin Kotwal, MD, MS
Daniel Parker, MD
Adam Simning, MD, PhD
Andrew Zullo, PharmD, ScM, PhD
2019 Awardees
Marlon J.R. Aliberti, MD, PhD
Claire K. Ankuda, MD, MPH, MSc
Rasheeda Hall, MD, MBA, MHS
Carolyn Presley, MD, MHS
2018 Awardees
Lina Ma, MD, PhD
Anil Makam, MD, MAS
Brienne Miner, MD, MHS
Victoria Tang, MD, MAS
2017 Awardees
Andrew Cohen, MD, DPhil
Lorena Gonzalez, MD
Benjamin Han, MD, MPH
Supakanya Wongrakpanich, MD
2016 Awardees
Lauren Ferrante, MD
Lee A. Jennings, MD, MSHS
David S.H. Lee, PharmD, PhD
Neelesh Nadkarni, MD, PhD, FRCPC
Nancy Schoenborn, MD
Anne Suskind, MD, MS
2015 Awardees
Jennifer Lai, MD, MBA
Michael LaMantia, MD, MPH
Una Makris, MD
John Newman, MD, PhD
Ryota Sakurai, PT, PhD