GEMSSTAR Scholars

2025 GEMSSTAR Awardees

Angela Collins MD, PhD, Ohio State University: The effect of age-related changes in macrophage polarization and the post-injury immune response on fracture healing

Carine Davila, MD, MPH, Massachusetts General Hospital: Exploring Serious Illness Communication between Latino Spanish-Speaking Older Adults and Community-Based Palliative Care Clinicians

Candida Goodnough, MD, Instructor, Stanford University: Targeting Aging-Related Delays in Cognitive Recovery After Anesthesia by Attenuating Oxidative Stress: Implications for Alzheimer's Disease

Jingran Ji, MD, University of California Los Angeles: Mitigating Physical Function Decline in Older Adults with Gastroesophageal Cancer

Alina Kung, MD, MS, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai: Out-of-pocket spending and burdensome care for older adults with serious illness

Allison Lange, MD, University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus: Serious Illness Communication Among Patients with Chronic Lung Disease and Comorbid Cognitive Impairment

Thomas Laskow, MD, Johns Hopkins University: Evaluating Infection Independent Benefits of Influenza Vaccine in Older Adults Undergoing Surgery

Vivek Sant, MD, University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center: Unique Considerations in the Older Patient Considering Surgical Management of Primary Hyperparathyroidis

Joseph Scarpa MD, PhD, Weill Cornell Medicine: The Impact of Biological Age on Surgical Outcomes

Aditya Shirali MD, FACS, University of Florida College of Medicine: Age-related changes to the senescence associated secretory phenotype of thyroid tissue in papillary thyroid carcinoma

Arissa Torrie, MD, MHS, University of Maryland School of Medicine: Association of Peripheral Nerve Blocks with Postoperative Outcomes and Readmissions in Older Adults Undergoing Hip Fracture Surgery

Mazie Tsang, MD, MAS, MS, Mayo Clinic Arizona: Longitudinal Quality of Life and What Matters Most to Older Adults with Indolent Non-Hodgkin Lymphoma

Kathleen Yinran Li, MD, MS, University of Washington: Interfacility transfer of older adults: outcomes and opportunities for improving patient-centered care

2024 GEMSSTAR Awardees

Martin Francis Casey, MD, MPH, University of North Carolina: Developing a foundation for a novel emergency department-based intervention to address inappropriate aspirin

Stephanie Cham, MD, University of California, San Francisco: Promoting gynecologic cancer patients with frailty to achieve functional recovery cohort study (PROOF Cohort Study)

Natalia Festa, MD, MBA, Yale University: Investigating nursing home emergency preparedness for environmental and climatological determinants of resident health

Dana E. Giza, MD, University of Texas Health Science Center Houston: Patient priorities survivorship care for older women with breast cancer

Matthew R. Hoffman, MD, University of Iowa: Characterizing the impact of presbyphonia on social interaction

Cali Johnson, MD, EdD, University of Utah: Patient-centered outcomes in carotid artery stenosis

Jay Lee, MD, Duke University: Improving decision-making for older adults with melanoma

Lisa A. Mistler, MD, Dartmouth-Hitchcock Clinic: Improving screening and access to treatment for depression in care partners of people living with dementia

Chan Mi Park, MD, MPH, Hebrew SeniorLife, Harvard Medical School: Epidemiology and long-term effect of cardiometabolic medication substitution during post-acute care

Gabriela Poles, MD, MPH, University of Rochester: Exploring best communication practices for shared decision making in older adults considering major colorectal surgery

Rebecca A. Rodin, MD, MSc, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai: Dementia and the opioid epidemic: The impact of the 2016 CDC guidelines on disparities in pain management

Sebastian E. Sattui, MD, MS, University of Pittsburgh: Prevalence and impact of frailty in older adults with polymyalgia rheumatica

2023 GEMSSTAR Awardees

W. James Deardorff, MD, University of California, San Francisco: A comprehensive prognostic model for older adults discharged to skilled nursing facilities

David R. Friedmann, MD, MSc, New York University School of Medicine: Feasibility of a Hearing Program in Primary Care for Underserved Older Adults

Elizabeth Joe, MD, University of Southern California: Barriers to early identification of dementia in a safety net healthcare system

Teresa S. Jones, MD, University of Colorado Denver: Multidisciplinary Surgical Decision Making for Older, High Risk Patients

Hadiza S. Kazaure, MD, Duke University: Characterizing neurocognitive symptoms in older adults with primary hyperparathyroidism

Andrea R. Levine, MD, University of Maryland Baltimore: The Association Between Aging, Inflammation, and Clinical Outcomes in Acute Respiratory Distress Syndrome

Sarah B. Lieber, MD, MS, Hospital for Special Surgery: Physical Activity Behaviors and Readiness for a Digital Health Physical Activity Intervention in Older Adults with Systemic Lupus Erythematosus

Rachel Litke, MD, PhD, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai: Translating in vivo drug screens to Alzheimer's patients with a pharmaco-epidemiological approach

Maria Lucia Madariaga, MD, University of Chicago: Applying User-centered Design and Implementation Science to Enhance Prehabilitation for Frail Older Adults Undergoing Lung Cancer Surgery

Chris L. Mosher, MD, MHS, Duke University: GEMSSTAR PERSPIRE-COPD

Lolita S. Nidadavolu, MD, PhD, Johns Hopkins University: Cell-free DNA as a marker of progression in Alzheimer's dementia and its role in chronic inflammation

Krishna Kaushik Patel, MD, MSc, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai: Re-thinking the Role of Stress Imaging for Symptomatic Older Adults with Stable Coronary Artery Disease

Alison Rustagi, MD, Northern California Institute for Research and Education: Identifying older adults who benefit from lung cancer screening

Benjamin J. Seligman, MD, PhD, University of California Los Angeles: Frailty and Influenza Vaccination Outcomes In A National Healthcare System

Namrata Singh, MD, MSCI, University of Washington: Impact of rheumatoid arthritis on survival in older adults with cancer

Rachel Skains, MD, MSPH, University of Alabama at Birmingham: Risk Factors and Time Course of Incident Delirium Among Older Adults in the Emergency Department (ED)

S. Kendall Smith, MD, PhD, Washington University: Delirium, Acute Inflammation, and Rhythmic Transcriptomics (DART)

Saranya P. Wyles, MD, PhD, Mayo Clinic Rochester: Topical Senolytics for Chronic Wound Healing

2022 GEMSSTAR Awardees

Leah Acker, MD, PhD, Duke University: The Role of the Aging Brain-Heart-Immune Axis in Postoperative Delirium

Anita Chary, MD, PhD, Baylor College of Medicine: Identifying Implementation Strategies for Emergency Department (ED) Delirium Screening in Older Adults

Po-Jung Chen, DDS, MDS, MDentSc, University of Nebraska Medical Center: Role of Geroscience-Guided Therapeutics in Oral Health

Hina Faisal, MD, Methodist Hospital Research Institute: Virtual Reality-Based Cognitive Intervention For The Prevention of Delirium & Cognitive Impairment In Geriatric Surgical Patients

Adam S. Faye, MD, MS, New York University School of Medicine: Sarcopenia as a Preoperative Risk Stratification Tool Among Older Adults with Inflammatory Bowel Disease

Ari B. Friedman, MD, PhD, University of Pennsylvania: Trajectories of Frailty and Cognitive Impairment in Older Adults

Matthew E. Growdon, MD, MPH, University of California, San Francisco: Medication risks and challenges among people with dementia who live alone

Angela M Ingraham, MD, FACS, MS, University of Wisconsin Madison: Development and Pilot Testing of an Intervention to Support Interhospital Transfer Decisions (SITe) Regarding Older Adults with Emergency General Surgery Diagnoses

Snigdha Jain, MD, MHS, Yale University: Socioeconomic Disadvantage and Disability Following Critical Illness Among Older Persons: The Role of Rehabilitation

Kenneth Lam, MD, MAS, University of California, San Francisco: Function, caregiving and adequacy of support before and after the transition to institutional settings

Edward P. Manning, MD, PhD, Yale University: Age-related Changes in the Pulmonary Artery

Kah Poh (Melissa) Loh, BMedSci, MBBCh, BAO, MS, University of Rochester: Epigenetic markers, functional status, and exercise in older adults with myeloid neoplasms

Shannon R. McCurdy, MD, University of Pennsylvania: Optimizing Allogeneic Hematopoietic Cell Transplantation for Older Patients with Hematologic Malignancies

Meghan Prin, MD, MS, University of Colorado Denver: Circadian Diurnal Motor Synchrony and Delirium Amongst Older Cardiac Surgery ICU Patients

Sarah P. Psutka, MD, University of Washington: Predicting Functional Decline and Clinical Outcomes in Newly Diagnosed Older Patients with Localized Bladder Cancer

Daniel S. Rubin, MD, University of Chicago: At-home gait-cadence functional assessment and recovery trajectory for older adults undergoing major abdominal surgery

Sandra Shi, MD, Hebrew SeniorLife, Harvard Medical School: Predicting and Identifying Risk Factors for Short Time at Home in Older Adults after Hospitalization

Qiang (Johnson) Zhang, MD, University of Iowa: Glycolysis and Alzheimer’s Disease

Yinan Zhang, MD, Ohio State University: Markers of Biological Aging in Multiple Sclerosis

2021 GEMSSTAR Awardees

Emma L. Barber, MD, Northwestern University at Chicago: A pilot study of prehabilitation during the neoadjuvant window of opportunity in older women with ovarian cancer (fit4surgery)

Richard Boyer, MD, PhD, Weill Cornell Medicine: Evaluation of Wearables for Preoperative Cardiorespiratory Fitness Screening and Risk Stratification in Geriatric Surgery

Courtney E. Collins, MD, Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center: Frailty, Strength, and Mobility in Older Hernia Patients: A Novel Abdominal Wall Physical Therapy Program

Rita “Caroline” Crooms, MD, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai: Palliative Care for High-Grade Glioma

Erin S. DeMartino, MD, Mayo Clinic Rochester: Heterogeneity in US Pandemic Allocation Policies: State-To-State Variation, Stakeholder Insights and Implications for Older Americans

Michael Joseph Devinney Jr, MD, PhD, Duke University: The Association of Blood-Brain Barrier Breakdown with Sleep Apnea and Postoperative Delirium

Cameron Gettel, MD, MHS, Center for Outcomes Research & Evaluation (CORE): Development and Validation of the Patient-Reported Outcome Measure - Older Adult Care Transitions from the Emergency Department (PROM-OTED) Tool

Hiroshi Gotanda, MD, PhD, Cedars-Sinai Medical Center: Days Spent at Home: A Patient-Centered Outcome Measure for Persons with Alzheimer Disease and Related Dementias

Shakira Grant, MBBS, University of North Carolina Chapel Hill: Functional Trajectories and Illness Experiences of Older Adults with Multiple Myeloma

Joseph Alan Hippensteel, MD, University of Colorado Denver: Endothelial Glycocalyx Degradation during Sepsis in Aging

Li-Wen Huang, MD, University of California, San Francisco: Cognitive Trajectories and Risk Factors for Cognitive Decline in Older Adults with Hematologic Malignancies

Bharati Devi Kochar, MD, Massachusetts General Hospital: Frailty in Inflammatory Bowel Diseases

Sara Lahue, MD, University of California, San Francisco: Biological Signatures of Neurodegeneration and Aging Associated with Delirium in Older Adults following Hip Fracture Surgery

Isuzu Meyer, MD, University of Alabama at Birmingham: The Impact of Hip Exercises on Pelvic Floor Muscle Strength and Function as a Potential Non-surgical Management for Urinary Incontinence in Older Women

Christina A. Minami, MD, MS, Brigham and Women's Hospital: Locoregional Treatment Decision-Making in Older Adults with Early-Stage, Hormone Receptor-Positive Breast Cancer

Brienne Miner, MD, MHS, Yale University: Evaluating Sleep Deficiency in Older Persons

Michael Nanna, MD, MHS, Yale University: Generating Novel Predictive Models to Estimate the Risk of Future ASCVD & Dementia in Older Adults

Sarah Nouri, MD, MPH, University of California, San Francisco: Taking Advance Care Planning (ACP) to Diverse Older Adult Communities: Facilitators, Barriers, and Development of a Novel ACP Toolkit

Charity Ibilola Oyedeji, MD, Duke University: Characterizing Frailty in Older Adults with Sickle Cell Disease Using a Sickle Cell Frailty Index (FI-SCD)

Anna L. Parks, MD, University of Utah: Development and Preliminary Validation of a Bleeding Quality of Life Patient Reported Outcome Measure for Older Adults

2020 GEMSSTAR Awardees

A. Lenore Ackerman, MD, PhD, Cedars-Sinai Medical Center: The Role of the Vaginal Microbiota in Urgency Urinary Incontinence in Older Women

Brian Andonian, MD, Duke University: Accelerated Metabolic Aging in Rheumatoid Arthritis Immune cells and Skeletal Muscle: A Pilot Study

Scott Ryan Bauer, MD, MS, University of California, San Francisco: Longitudinal Associations Between Frailty and Lower Urinary Tract Symptoms in Older Men

Nathan Clendenen, MD, University of Colorado Denver: Platelet Hyperreactivity as a Therapeutic Target for Reducing Stroke in Older Adults after Transcatheter Aortic Valve Replacement

Jessica Cohan, MD, MAS, University of Utah: Identifying Barriers to Patient-Centered Decision Making for Older Adults with Diverticulitis

Derik L. Davis, MD, University of Maryland Baltimore: Shoulder Pain, Rotator Cuff Tear, Coordination, and Mobility in Aging

Lei Gao, MD, Massachusetts General Hospital: Circadian Multiscale Activity Regulation and the Risk for Delirium in Elderly Hospitalized Patients

Jiha Lee, MD, MHS, University of Michigan at Ann Arbor: Evaluation of treatment patterns and prescription medication use among older adults with late-onset rheumatoid arthritis

Mary Clare Masters, MD, Northwestern University at Chicago: Longitudinal Trajectories of Physical and Cognitive Function among Persons Aging with HIV

Jane A. O’Halloran, MD, PhD, Washington University: Use of Blood-Based Biomarker to Determine Patterns of Neurocognitive Impairment in People Living with HIV

Ambarish Pandey, MD, UT Southwestern Medical Center: Evaluation of Racial Differences in Cardiorespiratory Fitness Decline with Aging & Underlying Biological Mechanisms

Daniel C. Parker, MD, Duke University: Healthy Skeletal Muscle, Healthy Brain: Are Kynurenine Metabolites the Link?

Erika E. Ramsdale, MD, University of Rochester: Polypharmacy, Potentially Inappropriate Medications, and Adverse Outcomes in Older Adults with Advanced Cancer Receiving Chemotherapy

Daniel Sam Roh, MD, PhD, Boston University Medical Campus: Role of Senescence in the Impaired Wound Healing of Aging

Shiqian Shen, MD, PhD, Massachusetts General Hospital: Aging Promotes Pain Chronification through Changes in PGC-1alpha Expression and Interneuron Dysfunction

Anoop Sheshadri, MD, University of California, San Francisco: Identifying Goals and Barriers to Exercise for Prehabilitation in Older Adults awaiting Kidney Transplantation and their Caregivers

Christopher Woodrell, MD, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai: Burden Among Informal Caregivers of Older Adults Receiving Treatments for Hepatocellular Carcinoma

2019 GEMSSTAR Awardees

Mary Ackenbom, MD, MSc, Magee-Women’s Research Institute and Foundation: A Prospective Examination of Perioperative Neurocognitive Disorders in Older Women Undergoing Urogynecologic Surgery

Timothy S. Anderson, MD, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center: Impact of Intensive Blood Pressure Treatment on Clinical Outcomes of Hospitalized Older Adults

Rita Nanik Bakhru, MD, Wake Forest University Health Sciences: ASPIRE: A Study Promoting Critical Illness Recovery in the Elderly

Katherine Hunold Buck, MD, Ohio State University: Improving Diagnostic Accuracy for Older Emergency Department Patients with Suspected Pneumonia: The Role of Diagnostic Criteria and Novel Antimicrobial Peptides

Thomas Kofi Mensah Cudjoe, MD, MPH, Johns Hopkins University: Social Connections and Health among Older Adults Living in Low-income Housing

Kelsey M. Flint, MD, Denver Research Institute: Pilot Study of a Moderate- to High-Intensity Home-based Rehabilitation Program as a Bridge to Cardiac Rehabilitation in Older Adults Hospitalized for Heart Failure

Tullika Garg, MD, MPH, Geisinger Clinic: Geriatric Conditions and Treatment Burden in Older Adults with Non-Muscle-Invasive Bladder Cancer and Their Caregivers

Deena Goldwater, MD, University of California, Los Angeles: Inflammatory and Immune System Gene Expression as a Marker of Vulnerability in Older Adult Patients Undergoing a Cardiovascular Procedure

Lindsay Ann Hampson, MD, MAS, University of California, Los Angeles: Understanding and Improving Treatment Decision-Making for Older Males with Stress Urinary Incontinence

Thuy Koll, MD, University of Nebraska Medical Center: An Expanded Framework to Measure Cognitive Function in Older Adults Undergoing Hematopoietic Cell Transplantation

Ashwin Ajit Kotwal, MD, University of California, San Francisco: Loneliness and Social Isolation among Older Adults in the Last Years of Life

Shouri Lahiri, MD, Cedars-Sinai Medical Center: Neuropathology of Cognitive Impairment in Critical Illness

Daneng Li, MD, Beckman Research Institute/City of Hope: Patient-Defined Goals and Preferences Among Older Adults with Advanced Neuroendocrine Tumors

Gregory Michael Ouellet, MD, MHS, Yale University: Understanding Decisions about Anticoagulation in Patients with Atrial Fibrillation and Dementia

Carolyn Presley, MD, Ohio State University: Resiliency Among Older Adults Receiving Lung Cancer Treatment (ROAR-LCT): A Pilot Intervention Study

Mina S. Sedrak, MD, MS, Beckman Research Institute/City of Hope: Improving Clinical Trial Participation of Older Adults with Cancer

Sachin J. Shah, MD, MPH, University of California, San Francisco: Social Vulnerability of Older Adults and the Risk of Medical Hospitalization

Adam Mitchell Spivak, MD, University of Utah: Modulating Immune Senescence of Effector Lymphocytes in Chronic HIV Infection

Pasithorn Suwanabol, MD, University of Michigan at Ann Arbor: Earlier Introductions to Palliative Care in Older Adults Undergoing High-Risk Surgery

2018 GEMSSTAR Awardees

Elizabeth Dzeng, PhD, MD, MPH, University of California, San Francisco: Identifying Contributing Factors to Burdensome ICU Treatments in Older Adults with Alzheimer’s Disease and Related Dementias in the United States and United Kingdom

Corey R. Fehnel, MD, MPH, Hebrew Rehabilitation Center for Aged: The Clinical Course and Outcomes of Older Stroke Patients with Feeding Tubes

Lauren Beth Gerlach, DO, MS, University of Michigan at Ann Arbor: Use of Psychotropic Medications Among Older Adults Receiving Hospice Care

Maile Ann Young Karris, MD, University of California, San Diego: Acceptance and Commitment Therapy to Address the Psychosocial Co-Morbidities of Chronic Pain in Aging People Living with HIV

Stefanie Krick, MD, University of Alabama at Birmingham: Fibroblast Growth Factor 23/Klotho Crosstalk and Airway Epithelial Senescence in COPD

Mariana Murea, MD, Wake Forest University Health Sciences: A randomized pilot study comparing graft-first to fistula-first strategies in older patients with incident end-stage kidney disease

Patricia Kim Phuong Nguyen, MD, Stanford University: The Contribution of T cells to the Pathogenesis of Atherosclerosis in Older Adults

Stephanie Nothelle, MD, Johns Hopkins University: Characterization and Effect of Co-Existence of Care Management Programs for High Need, High-Cost Older Adults

Ariela R. Orkaby, MD, MPH, Harvard Medical School: Frailty, Statins, and Cardiovascular Disease Burden in Older Adults

Carmen Quatman, MD, PhD, Ohio State University: First Responders: An Innovative Approach to Better Predict and Prevent Falls in Older Adults in the Community

Jennifer M. Reckrey, MD, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai: Paid Caregiving Among Persons with Dementia: Patient and Family Caregiver Outcomes

Katie Jo Schenning, MD, MPH, MCR, Oregon Health and Science University: The Role of Alzheimer’s Risk Factors in Cognitive Decline after Spine Surgery

Carolyn Dacey Seib, MD, MAS, Stanford University: The Impact of Treatment Choice on Long-term Outcomes in Older Adults with Primary Hyperparathyroidism

Shahzad Shaefi, MD, MPH, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center: Proteomic Analysis of Postoperative Delirium from a Randomized Trial in Older Patients Undergoing Cardiac Surgery Exposed to Intraoperative Normoxia versus Hyperoxia: A Nested Case-Control Study

Myrick C. Shinall, Jr, MD, PhD, Vanderbilt University Medical Center: The Surgery for Cancer with Option of Palliative Care Expert (SCOPE) Trial

Nazema Y. Siddiqui, MD, MHS, Duke University: Effects of Aging and the Urinary Microbiome on Recurrent Urinary Tract Infections

Elizabeth Louisa Whitlock, MD, MS, University of California, San Francisco: Impact of Coronary Revascularization on Longitudinal Cognitive Change in the Elderly

2017 GEMSSTAR Awardees

Courtney J. Balentine, MD, University of Texas Southwestern Dallas: Pilot Study of Dissemination and Implementation of a Virtual Acute Care for the Elderly Program on a Gastrointestinal Surgery Unit

Scott Charles Brakenridge, MD, MSCS, University of Florida: The Acute Development and Persistence of Frailty, Comorbidity and Disability in Critically Ill Elderly Patients After Severe Traumatic Injury? Induced Frailty?

James F. Colbert, MD, University of Colorado Denver: Aging-Related Changes in Gut Microbiome Mediate Septic Kidney Injury

Stephanie Lynn Garrett, MD, Emory University: In Search of an Ethno-Culturally Appropriate Approach for the Early Identification of Cognitive Impairment in African Americans

Elizabeth Goldberg, MD, Rhode Island Hospital: GAPcare: The Geriatric Acute & Post-Acute Care Coordination Program for Fall Prevention in the Emergency Department

Parag Goyal, MD, MSc, Weill Medical College of Cornell University: Impact of Polypharmacy on Rehospitalization in Older Adults with Heart Failure

Meredith Greene, MD, University of California, San Francisco: Integrating Geriatric Assessment with HIV Care

Richard K. Gurgel, MD, University of Utah: Exploring the Cognitive and Quality of Life Impact of Cochlear Implantation in Older Adults

John Patrick Haran, MD, University of Massachusetts Medical School Worcester: Study of the Intestinal Microbiome, Antimicrobial Use, and Clostridium difficile Infections in Long-term Care Facility Residents

Kei Ouchi, MD, MPH, Brigham and Women’s Hospital: Identifying and Empowering Older Adults with Serious Illness to Formulate their Goals for Medical Care in the Emergency Department

Candace Y. Parker-Autry, MD, Wake Forest University Health Sciences: Exploring the Role of Functional Impairment and Sarcopenia on the Non-Surgical Management of Urinary Incontinence in Older Women

Suzann Pershing, MD, Stanford University: Impact and Outcomes of Cataract Surgery Among Patients with Alzheimer’s Disease

Marcia McGory Russell, MD, Brentwood Biomedical Research Institute: Development of an Opioid Sparing Multimodal Pain Management Protocol for Older Adults Undergoing Surgery

Victoria Lai-Yen Tang, MD, MAS, University of California, San Francisco: Geriatric Factors and Outcomes after High-Risk Surgery in Older Adults

Benjamin S. Wessler, MD, Tufts Medical Center: Improving Care for Patients with Aortic Stenosis and Multimorbidity

Melissa C. Wong, MD, University of California, San Francisco: Expanding the Definition of Treatment Toxicity in Older Adults with Lung Cancer