Publications, promotions, awards, research, presentations, and more 鈥� enjoy this recent roundup of Division of Geriatric Medicine Faculty News!
Carolina Care Awards
Our 黑料网 Geriatrics clinic received the 2020 Carolina Care Excellence award for patient care. 黑料网 Geriatrics is the only primary care clinic to be recognized with this award, which is based on Press Ganey patient surveys. Under the medical directorship of the Division of Geriatric Medicine鈥檚 Steve Kizer, MD, 黑料网 Geriatrics clinic has been a Carolina Care Excellence Award recipient for the past 5 years.聽 Congratulations to all! See our Carolina Care video to learn how 黑料网 Geriatrics provides consistently excellent care 鈥� “Carolina Care” 鈥� to older adults, year after year.
As well, under the medical directorship of the Division of Geriatric Medicine鈥檚 Margaret Drickamer, MD, SECU Jim and Betsy Bryan Hospice Home won a Carolina Care 鈥淏ehavioral Award鈥� for Outpatient Care. Congratulations, 黑料网 Hospice team!
MSTAR: Medical Students Training in Aging Research
黑料网 Center for Aging and Health will be funded by the National Institute on Aging (NIA) to continue as a National Training Center for the MSTAR program: Medical Students Training in Aging Research. Through a $526,825 T-35 grant (鈥満诹贤�-CH Summer Research Training in Aging for Medical Students 鈥� MSTAR鈥� / T35-AG038047) 黑料网鈥檚 MSTAR program has trained 111 medical students in aging research since 2010. This year鈥檚 award represents the third round of funding for 黑料网鈥檚 MSTAR program.
Medical students from across the U.S. and territories apply to participate in an 8- to 10-week program for structured research in basic, translational, clinical, or health services research. MSTAR scholars have come to Chapel Hill in past years from as far away as Hawaii, California, and Puerto Rico. This year鈥檚 2020 summer research program was conducted remotely due to the coronavirus.
Because older adults are often excluded from research, MSTAR is an important pipeline training program for medical students to learn to conduct research that includes older adults and to evaluate medical research with a lens on aging inclusivity.
Division of Geriatric Medicine Chief Jan Busby-Whitehead, MD, is the Principal Investigator and Program Director, with Philip Sloane, MD, MPH, Program on Aging, Disability, and Long-Term Care, Cecil B. Sheps Center for Health Services Research, and Richard Loeser, MD, Director of the Thurston Arthritis Research Center, as Co-Program Directors. Ellen Roberts, MD, MPH, Associate Professor in the Division of Geriatric Medicine, is Associate Program Director.
Brain Health & BOLD NC
The Center for Aging and Health is a sub-recipient of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention鈥檚 (CDC) 鈥淏uilding Our Largest Dementia Infrastructure for North Carolinians鈥� (BOLD NC) funding, partnering with the NC Division of Aging and Adult Services (grant PI) and NC Division of Public Health to bring a public health, coordinated, systematic approach to our state鈥檚 brain health efforts. In partnership with BOLD NC Steering Committee members, the Center for Aging and Health鈥檚 role will include serving on the BOLD NC grant Steering Committee, creating an environmental scan and plan for educating health care and other professionals on brain health, and developing a brain health CEU for clinicians. The Center for Aging and Health鈥檚 Ellen Schneider, MBA, will lead 黑料网-Chapel Hill鈥檚 BOLD NC team.
New Faculty
We’re delighted to announce several new Faculty in the Division of Geriatric Medicine.
John A. Batsis, MD, Associate Professor, Division of Geriatric Medicine and Gilling School of Public Health, joins us from Dartmouth Medical School where he was a staff physician at the聽 at Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center and ran an active research program focused on older adults, technology, and functional capacity.
Rosanne Tiller, MD, joins our Faculty after completing residency and a Geriatric Medicine Fellowship at 黑料网. Tiller was Chief Inpatient Resident in 2017-2018.
Jun猫ve Toche, MD, joins our Faculty after completing residency and a Geriatric Medicine Fellowship at 黑料网. Toche was Chief Outpatient Resident in 2018-2019.
We could not be more fortunate to have these outstanding Geriatrician-Clinician-Educator-Researchers on board!
ADRD Palliative Care Trial
Laura Hanson, MD, MPH, Professor of Geriatric Medicine and Medical Director of Palliative Care, has been awarded $4.1 million in funding to administer a new multicenter trial from the National Institute on Aging (NIA). This award funds the first major clinical trial of comprehensive dementia-specific palliative care.
The ADRD Palliative Care (ADRD-PC) trial will enroll hospitalized patients with late-stage Alzheimer鈥檚 disease and related dementias (ADRD) and their family caregivers, and follow them after discharge to improve supportive care in the community. Trial sites include the University of North Carolina, University of Colorado, Indiana University and Massachusetts General Hospital.
鈥淢illions of Americans have late-stage Alzheimer鈥檚 and related dementias, causing suffering due to loss of awareness of self and family, progressive dependency, physical and neuropsychiatric symptoms, and physical, emotional and financial strain for caregivers,” said Hanson. “While specialty palliative care has been proven to improve outcomes for other serious illnesses, it is rarely offered to patients with dementia and their families.鈥�
Awards and Accolades
Lindsay Wilson, MD, MPH, received a “Foundation Phase Teaching Excellence Award” for significantly influencing courses in the Foundation Phase. Wilson is the John W. Foust Medical Alumni Distinguished Teaching Professor, and was recently promoted to associate professor in the division of geriatric medicine.
鈥淒uring these challenging times, I am especially grateful for聽the opportunity to聽work with our fantastic聽medical students,鈥� said Wilson. 鈥淭eaching the next generation of physicians,聽particularly in how to best care for our older patients, brings me tremendous joy.聽I love watching my learners聽grow and develop into doctors 鈥� their dedication, passion, and determination聽inspire me.鈥�
Cristine Henage, MPS, EdD, was recently promoted to Assistant Director of the 黑料网 Center for Aging and Health鈥檚 Carolina Geriatrics Workforce Enhancement Program (CGWEP). Dr. Henage has led the CGWEP since 2011 and guided the program through two rounds of Health Resources Services Administration funding to ensure that geriatrics is embedded throughout North Carolina鈥檚 health care workforce.
鈥淚’m remarkably proud of how we have been able to grow the continuing education arm of the program from less than 1,000 trainees in geriatrics to over 8,400 this past year,鈥� said Henage. 鈥淲e are very excited about starting Project ECHO telementoring sessions to reach rural and underserved providers with geriatrics knowledge and problem solve together.鈥�
Faculty Publications
The Division of Geriatric Medicine鈥檚 Claire Larson, MD, Jan Busby-Whitehead, MD, and co-authors鈥� recent JAPha publication proposes a new model of collaborative pharmacist-based care to reduce falls risk in older adults related to opioids and benzodiazepines.
In a recent publication, 鈥淓nhancing Advance Care Planning Communication: An Interactive Workshop with Role-Play for Students and Primary Care Clinicians,鈥� the Division of Geriatric Medicine鈥檚 Ben Blomberg, MD, and coauthors make the tough topic of advance care planning accessible for trainees and providers through role-playing and interactive workshops.
Sharing Our Expertise
Kudos to Gregg Warshaw, MD, and Meredith Gilliam, MD, MPH, from the Division of Geriatric Medicine for leading continuing medical education talks throughout the summer and fall of 2020 for MAHEC鈥檚 Project ECHO on cognitive impairment and osteoporosis.
On September 24 the Division of Geriatric Medicine鈥檚 Joshua Niznik, PharmD, PhD, led a webinar on deprescribing in older adults using administrative healthcare data as part of the 
Division of General Internal Medicine at the University of Pittsburgh鈥檚 Health Services Research Seminar series.
Rosanne Tiller, MD, will speak on 鈥淭he Geriatric Syndrome of Frailty鈥� at Moses Cone Grand Rounds on October 9.