New York (April 24, 2026)—Today, the American Geriatrics Society (AGS) announced that Debra Saliba, MD, MPH, AGSF and Alex Smith, MD, MS, MPH will succeed Joseph G. Ouslander, MD, AGSF as editors-in-chief of the Journal of the American Geriatrics Society (JAGS) beginning in July 2026. Dr. Saliba, a past president of the Society, has served on the JAGS editorial board since 2016 and as Executive Editor since 2022. Dr. Smith joined the editorial board in 2017 and has served as Executive Editor since 2021. Together, they will be taking the reins of the leading academic journal dedicated to the care we all need as we age. Dr. Ouslander will remain active with the journal, serving as Editor-in-Chief emeritus.
“Drs. Saliba and Smith were unanimously chosen as Co-Editors-in-Chief by the AGS Board of Directors,” noted AGS President Paul Mulhaussen, MD, AGSF. “As a team, Drs. Saliba and Smith bring an extraordinary depth of expertise and deep knowledge of the research landscape. They have already made significant contributions to JAGS, and we look forward to their leadership as JAGS evolves to meet changes in the publishing environment while continuing to publish impactful articles that are changing the landscape of how we age.”
“I can’t think of a better team to take over as co-Editors-in-Chief of the journal,” said Joseph Ouslander, MD, AGSF, “Having served as Executive Editors for the past several years they are familiar with the JAGS Editor-in-Chief role and have been instrumental in developing and implementing our approach to publishing and publicizing research during my tenure as Editor-in-Chief. I have no doubt that JAGS will flourish under their leadership and look forward to our continued collaboration as I transition to Emeritus Editor-in-Chief.”
Dr. Saliba, a professor of medicine at the David Geffen School of Medicine at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), holds the Anna and Harry Borun Endowed Chair in Geriatrics and Gerontology at UCLA. She is the Director of the UCLA Borun Center for Gerontological Research. At the VA Greater Los Angeles Healthcare System, she is a Physician Scientist in the Geriatric Research, Education, and Clinical Center (GRECC) and serves as the Director for Education at the HSR Center for the Study of Healthcare Innovation, Implementation and Policy. Dr. Saliba is also a Senior Natural Scientist at RAND. Dr. Saliba has over 25 years of experience leading geriatrics research across the continuum of care and has authored more than two hundred publications and chapters on aging. She co-authored the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine’s 2022 report “The National Imperative to Improve Nursing Home Quality: Honoring Our Commitment to Residents, Families, and Staff.” Dr. Saliba received the AGS 2023 Edward Henderson Award for her contributions to the field of aging. Among noteworthy career highlights are Dr. Saliba’s work to develop and test the Vulnerable Elders 13-item Survey (VES-13), a survey that uses individuals’ reports of function and health to efficiently identify older adults at risk for decline or death. The VES-13 has been translated into nine languages and is used in clinical practice, research, and health systems around the world. A second highlight is her leadership of a nationwide team that developed a new Minimum Data Set 3.0 (MDS) assessment—a tool used more than fourteen million times a year to identify the needs of persons in nursing homes and to guide their care planning. Dr. Saliba and colleagues pioneered the use in MDS of patient self-report questions to identify patient needs. This work laid the foundation for inclusion of patient reported symptoms in other post-acute care settings to improve coordination and care quality. Dr. Saliba’s research has also explored home and community-based services and supports, the relationship of staffing patterns to care quality, care for older adults with dementia, and interventions to decrease the need for and adverse consequences of hospitalization.
Alex Smith, MD, MS, MPH, a professor of medicine at UCSF, is a prolific geriatric-palliative care focused researcher who balances priorities as a clinician, educator, and mentor. The author or co-author of more than two hundred peer-reviewed publications, Dr. Smith has also served as principal investigator or co-principal investigator on seven grants to UCSF from the National Institute on Aging. Dr. Smith is an alumni of the Greenwall Faculty Scholars in Bioethics program, and the Paul Beeson (now NIA K76) career development program in aging research. He now serves on the Beeson Advisory Committee and is known to lead “campfire” style sing-along sessions at the annual Beeson meeting. Dr. Smith is co-founder of ePrognosis, a widely used set of online prognostic tools for older adults. Since 2016, Dr. Smith has co-hosted GeriPal, a popular podcast focused on issues of concern to geriatrics and palliative care clinicians. Along with Drs. Eric Widera and Ken Covinsky, Dr. Smith led the closing AGS plenary “literature update” session at the annual meeting for nearly 10 years, including a parody sing along. In recognition of Dr. Smith’s various contributions to geriatrics, aging research, and mentoring, he was awarded the 2020 Thomas and Catherine Yoshikawa Award from the AGS. Dr. Smith completed his undergraduate studies in cellular and molecular biology at the University of Michigan, pursued his masters’ degrees in public health from UC Berkeley and Harvard, and obtained his medical degree from UCSF. He joined the UCSF faculty in 2008, three years after completing his residency at Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston.
“We are delighted to be serving as Co-Editors-in-Chief of JAGS” said Drs. Saliba and Smith in a joint interview to be published in an upcoming issue of the AGS Newsletter. “We have been fortunate to work with Dr. Ouslander with a focus on streamlining journal operations and publishing high impact articles that support improved care for all of us as we age. Our vision for the journal is to build upon the work we have been doing while identifying new and emerging opportunities in the external landscape where we can reach an even wider audience with the latest in aging research. The publishing landscape is rapidly changing, and we look forward to improving the JAGS online experience for our readers, publishing innovative work, and positioning JAGS to benefit from the promise of artificial intelligence to disseminate scientific knowledge and to developing guidance for authors and reviewers around permissible use of AI during the writing and peer review of articles. Because of the lack of inclusion in older adults in research, we believe that aging research is the new frontier across medical specialties and professional disciplines. We are committed to continuing to publish research that is truly inclusive and to working together to amplify the reach of JAGS authors.”
# # #
About the American Geriatrics Society
Founded in 1942, the American Geriatrics Society (AGS) is a nationwide, not-for-profit society of geriatrics healthcare professionals that has—for more than 75 years—worked to improve the health, independence, and quality of life of older people. Its nearly 6,000 members include geriatricians, geriatric nurses, social workers, family practitioners, physician assistants, pharmacists, and internists. The Society provides leadership to healthcare professionals, policymakers, and the public by implementing and advocating for programs in patient care, research, professional and public education, and public policy. For more information, visit americangeriatrics.org.
About the Journal of the American Geriatrics Society (JAGS)
Included in more than 15,000 library collections around the world, JAGS is the go-to journal for clinical aging research. The journal serves a diverse, interprofessional community of healthcare professionals with the latest insights on geriatrics education, clinical practice, and public policy—all supporting the high-quality, person-centered care essential to our well-being as we age. Since the publication of its first edition in 1953, JAGS has remained one of the oldest and most impactful journals dedicated exclusively to gerontology and geriatrics. For more information, visit onlinelibrary.Wiley.com/journal/15325415