2018 Press Releases

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.

• .@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, @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.”

• 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.”