News/Press Releases

• Drawing on 30+ years of experience as geriatrician & health system leader, Dr. Laurie Jacobs convenes meeting of 2,500+ #geriatrics experts as new President of @AmerGeriatrics http://ow.ly/iBc030jLiTF

New York (April 30, 2018)—As more than 2,500 geriatrics experts prepare to converge on Orlando, Fla., for the American Geriatrics Society (AGS) 2018 Annual Scientific Meeting (#AGS18), their commitment to research, clinical practice, and public policy serving us all as we age will be reflected in the expertise of the Society’s newest president: Laurie G. Jacobs, MD, AGSF. A seasoned health systems leader, educator, and geriatrics scholar, Dr. Jacobs has been an AGS member since 1988 and an AGS Board representative since 2011. She will begin her tenure as AGS President outlining her vision to improve health in aging by disrupting outdated models of care as she opens #AGS18, which runs May 3-5 (pre-conference day May 2) at the Walt Disney World Swan & Dolphin Resort®.

“The AGS membership and geriatrics community is uniquely positioned to both provide care to older adults and to shape how that care is provided now and in the coming years,” notes Dr. Jacobs.

New York (April 18, 2018)—In response to regulatory actions that took aim last week at essential health benefits for all Americans and support systems for the poor, experts at the American Geriatrics Society (AGS) again cautioned that such changes could jeopardize the health, safety, and independence of us all as we age.

“To ensure we have access to high-quality, person-centered care, we need to support policy solutions that can help all of society benefit from increased longevity,” noted AGS Chief Executive Officer Nancy Lundebjerg, MPA. “Solutions that strip health protections for Americans while also risking important gains for some of society’s most vulnerable individuals remain counterproductive to what we all need as we age.”

These warnings come just days after President Trump signed an Executive Order mandating work requirements for people receiving food assistance, Medicaid, and low-income housing subsidies because they already live at or below the federal poverty line. With many of America’s more than 43 million caregivers relying on such supports to make caregiving possible, such a sweeping directive could risk care quality for older adults now while jeopardizing well-being for more Americans in the years to come.

A new supplement to the Journal of the American Geriatrics Society finds field leaders in dementia and mental health research weighing in on the science, public policy, and professional education and practice that will change our experience of aging.

New York (April 16, 2018)—In a newly published collection of research reports and essays, more than 20 experts in aging are looking to the future of science, professional education, clinical practice, and public policy to address two of America’s fastest growing health concerns: Dementia and mental health in late life. Across 10 articles compiled as a supplement to the Journal of the American Geriatrics Society (JAGS), field leaders in geriatrics, dementia, and mental health have traced the trajectory of everything from our knowledge of neurological systems contributing to dementia to the development of new interprofessional approaches to teaching and managing late life problems in mental health. In so doing, they hope to chart a course forward for bridging the gap between science and clinical practice, which could transform the prevention and treatment of dementia and mental illness for us all as we age.

• At #AGS18, @WeillCornell’s Dr. Tony Rosen will be honored for #geriatrics research reviewing programs with potential to combat abuse of older adults in communities across U.S. http://ow.ly/KI6t30jsnJo

New York (April 12, 2018)—Advancing care for older people across health specialties, the American Geriatrics Society (AGS) and the AGS Health in Aging Foundation today announced that Tony Rosen, MD, MPH—Assistant Professor of Medicine at Weill Cornell Medicine and Attending Emergency Physician at New York-Presbyterian/Weill Cornell Medical Center—will receive this year’s Jeffrey H. Silverstein Memorial Award for Emerging Investigators in the Surgical and Related Medical Specialties. Presented at the AGS 2018 Annual Scientific Meeting (#AGS18, held May 3-5 in Orlando, Fla.), the award will recognize Dr. Rosen for a comprehensive review of programs to address the abuse of older individuals that he and colleagues conducted.

“Expanding access to the care we all need as we age means forging new in-roads for geriatrics across all healthcare specialties,” noted AGS Board Chair Ellen Flaherty, PhD, APRN, AGSF. “As an emergency medicine physician with an interest in older adult care, Dr. Rosen’s career—and his expertise—help to exemplify that need, and how we hope to meet those needs at the AGS.”

• .@AmerGeriatrics Honors Expert & Emerging #Geriatrics Leaders at #AGS18 http://ow.ly/8qWS30jsupg

New York (April 12, 2018)—The American Geriatrics Society (AGS) annually honors researchers, clinicians, educators, and emerging health professionals who have made outstanding contributions to high-quality, person-centered care for older people. This year’s award recipients include more than 20 leaders representing the breadth of disciplines championing care for us all as we age.

Choosing Wisely® Champion Award

• Alina Sibley, APRN, BC (Baystate Medical Center)

Clinician of the Year Award

• J. Eugene Lammers, MD, MPH, FACP, AGSF (Mercy LIFE of Alabama)

Clinical Student Research Award

• Michael Liu (University of Arizona, Harvard University)

David H. Solomon Memorial Public Service Award

• At #AGS18, new @AmerGeriatrics award supported by @Humana celebrates #research & #innovation in #ValueBasedCare http://ow.ly/S82K30jvZAo

New York (April 17, 2018)—With support from Humana Inc., (NYSE: HUM), one of the nation’s leading health and well-being companies, the American Geriatrics Society (AGS) today announced two recipients for its newest award celebrating innovation in value-based care as we age. The inaugural Humana Value-Based Care Research Awards will be presented to Austin J. Hilt, MPH, a medical student at Northeast Ohio Medical University, and Morteza Komeylian, MD, a Clinician Fellow at the University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston, at the AGS 2018 Annual Scientific Meeting (#AGS18), held May 3-5 in Orlando, Fla.

Selected from more than 1,000 research abstracts submitted for consideration—the AGS’s most competitive pool to-date for its Annual Scientific Meetings—work by Hilt and Dr. Komeylian exemplifies four important priorities embodied by the Humana Value-Based Care Research Award, which celebrates commitments to:

• Top presentations at @AmerGeriatrics’ #AGS18 address barriers to #AdvanceCarePlanning, #osteoporosis screening, links between #hypertension treatment & #falls http://ow.ly/Bx5f30jkDxY

New York (April 5, 2018)—Breaking barriers to advance care planning for incarcerated older adults, improving osteoporosis screenings for older men, and exploring the link between hypertension treatment and an increased risk for falls are among headline presentations anchoring the American Geriatrics Society (AGS) 2018 Annual Scientific Meeting (#AGS18), held May 3-5 (pre-conference day May 2) at the Walt Disney World Swan & Dolphin Resort in Orlando, Fla.

Presentations at the prestigious #AGS18 Plenary Paper Session (May 3, 9:30-10:15am Eastern Time) represent some of geriatrics’ most promising scholarship as assessed by peer experts and program planners from a pool of more than 1,000 abstract submissions—the most in AGS history. This year’s highlights include:

“We Take Care of Patients, but We Don’t Advocate for Them”: Correctional Clinicians’ Perspectives on Barriers to Advance Care Planning in the Prison Setting (presented by Rachel Ekaireb, BA)

• Dr. Heather Whitson, leading #geriatrics clinician-investigator in promoting resilience and recovery as we age, to deliver prestigious @AmerGeriatrics Yoshikawa Lecture at #AGS18 http://ow.ly/ahSB30jbkEl

New York (March 27, 2018)—The American Geriatrics Society (AGS) and the AGS Health in Aging Foundation today announced that Heather E. Whitson, MD, MHS, Associate Professor of Medicine and Ophthalmology at the Duke University School of Medicine and Deputy Director at Duke’s Center for the Study of Aging and Human Development, will be honored with the 2018 Thomas and Catherine Yoshikawa Award for Outstanding Scientific Achievement in Clinical Investigation. A past program chair for the AGS annual conference, Dr. Whitson will deliver a plenary presentation on individualizing health and promoting resilience in medically complex older adults as part of the AGS 2018 Annual Scientific Meeting (#AGS18; May 3-5 in Orlando, Fla.).

“Dr. Whitson is not only recognized nationally as a leading geriatrics researcher but also as a creative and compassionate clinician,” notes Ellen Flaherty, PhD, APRN, AGSF, AGS Board Chair. “That blend of expertise at the lab bench and in the clinic and classroom reflects everything we have come to expect from AGS members.”

• Dr. John Burton of @HopkinsMedicine, Dr. George Drach of @PennMedicine & @UofA honored for commitment to #geriatrics expertise, education at #AGS18 http://ow.ly/rvU330jbkro

New York (March 27, 2018)—The American Geriatrics Society (AGS) will this May honor two of the field’s most seasoned clinician-educators with one of the Society’s highest accolades. John R. Buton, MD, AGSF—Professor of Medicine and Co-Director of the Johns Hopkins Geriatrics Workforce Enhancement Program (GWEP) in Maryland—and George W. Drach, MD, AGSF—Emeritus Professor of Surgery at the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania and the College of Medicine at the University of Arizona—will be recognized for decades of commitment to community service and geriatrics education when they receive the David H. Solomon Public Service Award at the AGS 2018 Annual Scientific Meeting (#AGS18), held May 3-5 in Orlando, Fla.

“Dr. Burton and Dr. Drach exemplify two pillars of geriatrics: Our commitment to educate more of the experts we all will need as we age and our promise to ensure that all our doctors, nurses, social workers, pharmacists, and other health professionals understand what makes our care unique as we age,” notes Ellen Flaherty, PhD, APRN, AGSF, AGS Board Chair.

• Prestigious Nascher/Manning Award presented by @AmerGeriatrics to two #geriatrics pioneers: @AGSJournal’s @WApplega_Bill, VA’s Dr. Thomas Edes http://ow.ly/IQz030jbkc4

New York (March 27, 2018)—The American Geriatrics Society (AGS) will this year honor not one but two pioneers of geriatrics expertise with the prestigious Nascher/Manning Award given biannually at the AGS Annual Scientific Meeting (#AGS18; held this year May 3-5 in Orlando, Fla.). William Applegate, MD, MPH, MACP, AGSF—Editor-in-Chief of the Journal of the American Geriatrics Society (JAGS) and a renowned clinician-educator at Wake Forest Health and the Wake Forest School of Medicine—and Thomas Edes, MD, MS—Executive Director of Geriatrics & Extended Care Operations for the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA)—now join a cadre of less than 20 geriatrics healthcare professionals recognized with the Nascher/Manning Award since its inception in 1987.

A professor in the Department of Internal Medicine, Section on Gerontology and Geriatric Medicine, Wake Forest School of Medicine, Dr. Applegate has long been instrumental in leading change and innovation, particularly at the AGS. An AGS member since 1984 and a former Society President, Dr. Applegate has twice anchored JAGS as Editor-in-Chief, having returned most recently in 2016 following an earlier tenure from 1993 through 2000.