Division News

Mitchell Heflin, MD, associate professor of medicine (Geriatrics) and Eleanor McConnell, RN, PhD, associate professor of nursing, have received a 2015 Geriatric Workforce Enhancement Program grant from the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services. The Duke award, for $2.5 million over 3 years, will support the Duke Geriatric Workforce Enhancement Program: Communities Caring for Seniors, a program to improve community based care for older adults.

Kimberly Johnson, MD, associate professor of medicine (Geriatrics), is driven to reduce racial disparities in end-of-life care. Johnson is creating a new research program, which she will direct, on health disparities in palliative care among underserved populations. “I have always been deeply moved by the experiences of patients who are near the end of life,” Dr. Johnson said. “At some point, it became clear to me that this experience was different for African Americans.”

 

In a recent article the Association of American Medical Colleges reports that by 2025, the number of Americans over the age of 65 will nearly double, but as of 2014, there were fewer than 7,500 geriatricians in the United States, only eight of the country's 145 academic medical centers have full geriatrics departments and only 44 percent of the nationals' 353 geriatric fellowship positions are filled.

Harvey Cohen, MD, professor of medicine (Geriatrics), director, Duke University Aging Center, and leader, Cancer and Aging Committee, American Association of Cancer Research, will be part of a discussion of the Alliance for Aging Research's "Silver Book: Chronic Disease and Medical Innovation in an Aging Nation" series at the United States Capitol Building on May 21.

Dr. Cohen will present "The Burden of Cancer and the Value of Medical Research."

Kimberly Johnson, MD, associate professor of medicine (Geriatrics), is featured in this PBS Newshour report on why African-American seniors are less likely to use hospice.

In a recent article in U.S. News & World Report, Heather Whitson, MD, MHS, associate professor of medicine (Geriatrics), commented on the shortage of physicians specializing in geriatric medicine.

Three of the nation’s largest philanthropies – the Howard Hughes Medical Institute, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, and the Simons Foundation – have announced a new partnership to provide much needed research support to outstanding early-career scientists in the United States.

Through the new Faculty Scholars Program, the philanthropies will invest a total of $148 million in research support over the program’s first five years.

Medicine Grand Rounds on Fri., Nov. 14 at 8 a.m. in Duke Hospital room 2002 will feature Mitchell T. Heflin MD, MHS, associate professor of medicine (Geriatrics) and senior fellow in the Center for the Study of Aging and Human Development, and Shelley R. McDonald PhD, DO, assistant professor of medicine (Geriatrics). Dr.

Heather Whitson, MD, MHS, associate professor medicine (Geriatrics) and ophthalmology, has coauthored a Viewpoint essay about limitations in Medicare coverage of hearing and vision care.

Given present-day understanding of the health effects of sensory loss and advances in technology, Medicare policy for coverage of hearing and vision rehabilitative services, established a half century ago, may need reconsideration.

The essay, Hearing

Heidi White, MD, associate professor of medicine (Geriatrics), was invited contribute her expertise to the September/October issue of the North Carolina Medical Journal, which focuses on long-term care. As the author of the issue brief, Dr