Claire Ankuda, MD, MPH, MSc
The AGS Outstanding Junior Research Manuscript Award is presented to a junior investigator for an outstanding peer-reviewed article on a topic in geriatrics. Claire Ankuda, MD, MPH, MSc has been honored this year for her work on “Family and Friend Perceptions of Quality of End-of-Life Care in Medicare Advantage vs Traditional Medicare,” published in the Journal of the American Medical Association Network Open in 2020. Dr. Ankuda’s cross-sectional study of people who died while enrolled in Medicare found that friends and family of those in Medicare Advantage (MA) reported lower-quality end-of-life care compared with the family and friends of those enrolled in traditional Medicare. These important findings suggest that, given the rapid growth of Medicare Advantage, Medicare should take steps to ensure that MA plans are held accountable for quality of care at the end of life. The publication exemplifies Dr. Ankuda’s research interests at the intersection of geriatrics, palliative care, and health policy, and was recently cited in a Government Accountability Office Report to Congress on disenrollment from Medicare Advantage at the end of life. An Assistant Professor at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai and funded by a 5-year National Institute on Aging Beeson K76 Award, Dr. Ankuda’s important contributions work toward her overarching career goal to improve Medicare policies to better support older adults with functional disabilities and serious illness.
Past Recipients of the Outstanding Junior Research Manuscript Award
2021 Jennifer Watt, MD, PhD
2020 Anil Makam, MD, MAS
2019 Victoria Tang, MD, MAS
2018 Benjamin Han, MD, MPH
2017 Halima Amjad, MD, MPH
2016 Rebecca Brown, MD, MPH
2015 Helena M. Blumen, PhD
2014 S. Ryan Greysen
2013 Jane Saczynski, PhD