The AGS annually honors researchers, clinicians, educators, and emerging health professionals who have made outstanding contributions to high-quality, person-centered care for older adults. Our award-winning geriatricians, geriatric nurses, social workers, family practitioners, physician assistants, pharmacists, internists, and so many other colleagues represent the breadth of disciplines championing elder care in the U.S. across the history of the AGS.
Learn more about our awards and awardees below. Applications for nominated awards run through the first week of December, with most awards presented at the AGS Annual Scientific Meeting the following May. Individuals may only be nominated or apply for one category of award per year.
Arti Hurria Memorial Award for Emerging Investigators in Internal Medicine Who are Focused on the Care of Older Adults
Arti Hurria, MD—namesake of this award—championed AGS programs connecting colleagues outside geriatrics to the rewards of supporting health, safety, and independence for us all as we age. Dr. Hurria, who passed away in 2018, believed in the need to infuse geriatrics principles across all specialties. The Arti Hurria Memorial Award for Emerging Investigators in Internal Medicine Who are Focused on the Care of Older Adults is one of several honors conferred by the AGS at its Annual Scientific Meeting. The award recognizes the accomplishments of junior and mid-career clinician-investigators in general internal medicine and its specialties.
Choosing Wisely® Champions
Choosing Wisely® Champion is someone who has advanced the Choosing Wisely® platform in his or her practice, helped educate AGS members about Choosing Wisely® recommendations, and demonstrated leadership in the Choosing Wisely® effort.
Clinical Student Research Award
This award honors an undergraduate student in dentistry, medicine, nursing, pharmacy, physical therapy, occupational therapy, or social work who submitted the most outstanding student abstract for the AGS Annual Scientific Meeting.
Clinician of the Year Award
This award was established to recognize the great contributions of practitioners to delivering quality healthcare for older people, as well as to showcase the importance of the geriatrics clinician in our healthcare system. Through these clinicians' efforts, scientific advances are integrated into the practice of geriatrics, resulting in improved well-being and quality-of-life for older people.
David H. Solomon Memorial Public Service Award
The AGS created the David H. Solomon Memorial Public Service Award in 2002 to honor David H. Solomon, MD, AGSF, for his commitment to community service and the advancement of knowledge in caring for older adults. Dr. Solomon was the founding Director of the Center on Aging at the David Geffen School of Medicine at the University of California, Los Angeles. He will forever be remembered for his excellence in research, teaching, patient care, and administration.
Dennis W. Jahnigen Memorial Award
This award is given annually to an AGS member who has provided leadership to train students in geriatrics and has contributed significantly to the progress of geriatrics education in health professions schools. Teaching expertise, as well as educational program development, is valued in the selection of the recipient for this honor.
Edward Henderson Student Award
The Edward Henderson Student Award is presented to an undergraduate student in a health professions program who is interested in pursuing a career in geriatrics and with demonstrated excellence in contributing to the field.
Geriatrics Recognition Award (GRA)
The GRA recognizes physicians and nurses who are committed to lifelong learning about the care of older adults. The AGS established the GRA to encourage health professionals to acquire special knowledge and keep abreast of the latest advances in clinical care of older adults through participation in lifelong learning.
Health in Aging Foundation New Investigator Award
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.
Jeffrey H. Silverstein Memorial Award for Emerging Investigators in the Surgical and Related Medical Specialties
Open to junior and mid-career investigators from a variety of surgical and related medical specialties, the Silverstein Award recognizes emerging investigators whose research is focused on the role of geriatrics expertise in their specialties, and who are committed to careers in aging research.
Nascher/Manning Award
Ignatz Leo Nascher, MD, argued that medical care for older adults should be considered a separate specialty, for which he coined the term “geriatrics” in 1909. Through the generosity of the Manning family, the intent of the Nascher/Manning Award (presented bi-annually during even years) is to honor Dr. Nascher’s pioneering work in the field by recognizing an individual with distinguished, life-long achievement in clinical geriatrics.
Outstanding Junior Clinician Education Manuscript Award
This award is targeted to clinician-educator junior faculty (Assistant Professor/Instructor) in the development stages of their careers. The junior faculty member must have first-authored an outstanding peer-reviewed clinical education journal article focused on the care of older adults. Selection of award winners will consider the article's novelty, methodological, clarity of presentation, and potential to influence education relevant to the care of older adults.
Outstanding Junior Clinician Educator of the Year Award
This award is targeted to an AGS Member who is a clinician-educator junior faculty (Assistant Professor/Instructor) in the development stages of their careers. The awardee will have made a significant contribution to the education and training of students/trainees in geriatrics and the progress of geriatrics education in health professions schools as evidenced by meeting some or all of the following criteria: significant contribution to the teaching of students/trainees; significant contribution to mentoring and providing career advice to students/trainees; significant contribution to educational program development. Teaching expertise, as well as educational program development, is valued in the selection of the recipient for this honor.
Outstanding Junior Investigator of the Year Award
This award is targeted to junior investigators (Assistant Professor/Instructor or equivalent) who are in the career development stages of their research work, with a faculty appointment of at least three but no more than seven years and a demonstrated focus on aging/geriatrics research. The ideal candidate is an individual who has been awarded a career development award, pilot grant, or institutional grant (but not an R01). Applicants must demonstrate a record of accomplishments in aging/geriatrics research, such as (a) first-authorship on original aging/geriatrics research publications (not review articles); (b) poster/oral presentations of aging research at national meetings; and/or (c) submission of at least one research grant as principal investigator. Applicants must also demonstrate evidence of a career plan related to aging research.
Outstanding Junior Research Manuscript Award
This award is targeted to clinician-educator junior faculty (Assistant Professor/Instructor) in the development stages of their careers. The junior investigator must be first author on an outstanding peer-reviewed geriatrics research journal article. Selection of award winners will be based on the novelty, methodological rigor, clarity of presentation, and potential to influence geriatrics practice, policy, or future research when considering the candidate’s article. Papers that were published between September 1 and August 31 of the previous year are eligible for consideration.
Outstanding Mid-Career Clinician Educator of the Year Award
This award is targeted to a mid-career clinician educator faculty member (Associate Professor) who has made significant contributions to the education and training of students/trainees in geriatrics and the progress of geriatrics education in health professions schools. The ideal candidate will have met some or all of the following criteria: significant contribution to the teaching of students/trainees; significant contribution to mentoring and providing career advice to students/trainees/junior faculty; significant contribution to educational program development. Teaching expertise, as well as educational program development, is valued in the selection of the recipient for this honor.
Presidential Poster Award Recipients
The Presidential Poster Session featured some of the most highly rated abstracts reviewed by the Research Committee. Congratulations to top presenters recognized in each of the following categories.
Scientist-In-Training Research Award
A Scientist-in-Training Research Award will be presented to a pre-doctoral candidate from a range of disciplines—including psychology, gerontology, epidemiology, etc.—who submitted the most outstanding abstract for the AGS Annual Scientific Meeting.
Thomas and Catherine Yoshikawa Award for Outstanding Scientific Achievement in Clinical Investigation
Named in honor of Dr. Thomas T. Yoshikawa and his wife, Catherine—who together served the AGS and the geriatrics community for more than two decades—the Yoshikawa Award will offer recognition and financial support to emerging eldercare scholars who represent the early promise of the Yoshikawas’ own illustrious career. The award, which includes a $2,000 honorarium, has been supported through 2032 thanks to generous support from AGS members and countless friends and colleagues of the Dr. and Mrs. Yoshikawa.
Past Awards
Arnold P. Gold Foundation Humanism in Medicine Award
The purpose of this award is to identify and honor a practicing physician who best demonstrates the ideals of compassionate and respectful care for a patient’s physical and emotional well-being. The Arnold P. Gold Foundation established humanism awards for practicing doctors, which are awarded through specialty societies.
Humana Value-Based Care Research Award
The Humana Value-Based Care Research Award supported up to two researchers annually at the AGS Annual Scientific Meeting who presented top scholarship poised to accomplish four important priorities for value-based care serving older people.