- At #AGS25, Dr. Nancy Schoenborn to receive the Thomas and Catherine Yoshikawa Outstanding Scientific Achievement for Clinical Investigation Award and deliver lecture on individualizing preventive care in medically complex older adults. (@JHGeriatrics) https://ow.ly/jvHi50Vta9n
New York (April 2, 2025) — Today, the American Geriatrics Society (AGS) and the AGS Health in Aging Foundation (HiAF) announced that the 2025 Thomas and Catherine Yoshikawa Award for Outstanding Scientific Achievement in Clinical Investigation will be awarded to Dr. Nancy Schoenborn MD, MHS, AGSF, Associate Professor in the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine’s Division of Geriatric Medicine and Gerontology.
The award will be presented at the AGS 2025 Annual Scientific Meeting (#AGS25), May 8-10 (pre-conference day May 7). At the conference, Dr. Schoenborn will deliver a lecture on “Less is More” or “Better Safe than Sorry” – How to Individualize Preventive Care in Medically Complex Older Adults.
Dr. Nancy Schoenborn is a national leader in the study of individualized care of medically complex older adults that considers each person’s health status and personal preferences. Her pioneering work has identified the disconnect between common concepts and language used in scientific research and guidelines (such as life expectancy) and patient perspectives which then negatively impact care. She has, in turn, bridged this disconnect by studying and incorporating patient preferences for how to communicate sensitive topics such as life expectancy and discontinuation of preventive services. Her work has examined decision-making from the clinician and the patient perspectives and has focused on the critical role of communication in facilitating patient-centered care. She is currently leading an interdisciplinary project to study how to more broadly message about the harms of cancer over screening to the public as well as the ethics of using persuasion in health communication.
“Dr. Schoenborn’s research is transforming the way we approach cancer screening and other critical health decisions for older adults,” said AGS President Mark A. Supiano, MD, AGSF. “By prioritizing communication about personal preferences, Dr. Schoenborn is helping to ensure that older adults receive care aligned with their personal values. Her work on eliciting patient perspectives to promote individualized care in arenas such as cancer screening, deprescribing medications, de-intensification of treatment, and using artificial intelligence to improve care, exemplifies the Yoshikawas’ commitment to advancing geriatrics through innovative and ethically grounded clinical investigation.”
Dr. Schoenborn has been widely recognized for her contributions to geriatrics and aging research. The National Institute on Aging (NIA) awarded her a R03 grant (2015-2018) for early-career specialists transitioning to aging research (GEMSSTAR) and a Paul B. Beeson Emerging Leaders Career Development Award in Aging (2018-2024). She was among the inaugural cohort of Multiple Chronic Conditions Scholars in 2019, sponsored by the Healthcare Systems Research Network and the Claude D. Pepper Older Americans Independent Centers AGING Initiative. She also was named a T. Franklin Williams Scholar by the AGS Health in Aging Foundation and the Alliance for Academic Internal Medicine (2015-2018). Her achievements within the American Geriatrics Society include receiving a New Investigator Award (2016), being honored as the Outstanding Junior Investigator of the Year (2019), and receiving Best Paper and Best Poster Awards (2022). Hopkins awarded her the Clinician Scientist Award in 2016.
About the American Geriatrics Society
Founded in 1942, the American Geriatrics Society (AGS) is a nationwide, not-for-profit society of geriatrics healthcare professionals dedicated to improving the health, independence, and quality of life of older people. Our 6,000+ members include geriatricians, geriatrics nurse practitioners, social workers, family practitioners, physician associates, pharmacists, and internists who are pioneers in serious illness care for older individuals, with a focus on championing interprofessional teams, eliciting personal care goals, and treating older people as whole persons. AGS is an anti-discriminatory organization. We believe in a society where we all are supported by and able to contribute to communities where ageism, ableism, classism, homophobia, racism, sexism, xenophobia, and other forms of bias and discrimination no longer impact healthcare access, quality, and outcomes for older adults and their caregivers. AGS advocates for policies and programs that support the health, independence, and quality of life of all of us as we age.
About the Health in Aging Foundation
The Health in Aging Foundation is a national non-profit established in 1999 by the American Geriatrics Society to bring the knowledge and expertise of geriatrics healthcare professionals to the public. We are committed to ensuring that people are empowered to advocate for high-quality care by providing them with trustworthy information and reliable resources. Last year, we reached nearly one million people with our resources through HealthinAging.org. We also help nurture current and future geriatrics leaders by supporting opportunities to attend educational events and increase exposure to principles of excellence on caring for older adults. For more information or to support the Foundation's work, visit HealthinAgingFoundation.org.
About the Yoshikawa Award for Outstanding Scientific Achievement in Clinical Investigation Named in honor of Dr. Thomas T. Yoshikawa and his late wife, Catherine—who together served the AGS and the geriatrics community for more than two decades—the Yoshikawa Award offers recognition and financial support to emerging geriatrics scholars who represent the early promise of the Yoshikawas’ own illustrious careers. The award has been supported thanks to generous contributions to the AGS Health in Aging Foundation from AGS members, as well as friends and colleagues of the Yoshikawas.
About the AGS Annual Scientific Meeting
The AGS Annual Scientific Meeting is the premier educational event in geriatrics, providing the latest information on clinical care, research on aging, and innovative models of care delivery. More than 2,600 nurses, pharmacists, physicians, physician assistants, social workers, long-term care and managed care providers, healthcare administrators, and others will convene May 8 – 10 (pre-conference day: Wednesday, May 7) in Chicago, IL to advance geriatrics knowledge and skills through state-of-the-art educational sessions and research presentations. For more information, visit https://meeting.americangeriatrics.org/.