Welcome to the UC San Diego Division of Geriatrics, Gerontology and Palliative Care

Our Mission: To optimize the experience of aging through excellence in clinical care, inspired teaching, and transformative research.

Our Vision: To create a better world for aging people.

We have been ranked 13th two years in a row out of more than 1500 national programs in U.S. News & World Report!

Spotlight

After many years at UC San Diego, Dr. Jairo Romero has retired! We are so thankful for the wonderful care he provided to so many of our patients and his contributions to the division! Congratulations, Dr. Romero! You will be missed.

Congratulations to Chelsea Jones and Jessica Xiao, both graduating medical students, who are the recipients of the 2021 Ruth Covell Award in Geriatrics!

Chelsea Jones, MD, MS, was selected for her exceptional work and interest in geriatrics as a medical student and contributions to geriatrics-related research. She was instrumental in helping the Division of Geriatrics and Gerontology submit a large grant application focused on geriatrics and technology and conducted research within the new Geriatrics Senior Emergency Care Unit.

Jessica Xiao, MD was selected for her exceptional work and interest in geriatrics as a medical student. Faculty noted her performance during her elective geriatrics rotation was above and beyond, including her participation in advance care planning.

Congratulations to Emily Sladek, MD, who has been selected by the graduating Chief Medical Residents of the Internal Medicine Residency Program to receive a 2021 CMR Teaching Award! This award is in recognition of the mentorship and guidance she has provided.

Support Us

Join us in helping older people live their best lives longer. Addressing the needs of our older adults is important now more than ever! Your donations ensure that our research and clinical care keep pace with the needs of our community and ensure our initiatives to further educate the geriatrics work force remain strong and expand.

Give Now

Donor Spotlight

Our generous donors support geriatrics/aging research and education. To learn more about our donors, click here.

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Division News

IN THE NEWS:

Dr. Biren Kamdar, affiliate faculty of our division, was senior author on a paper researching the impact of the pandemic on the mental health of students applying to medical school. Read more here.

Dr. Ariana Stickel, a funded scientist in our AD-RCMAR program, published findings from a recent study showing the combination of obesity and cardiovascular factors cause cognitive decline in Latinos. Read more here.

Learn more about how to assess if an older adult needs caregiving help in this AARP article featuring our own geriatricians, Ian Neel, MD and Lindsey Yourman, MD!

Congratulations to Maile Karris, MD, an HIV specialist in our division, who was also recently featured in the news discussing Conversation, compassion and community: Planning for healthy futures with HIV!

Did you know that seniors rarely discuss drinking with their doctors? Read more here featuring our own faculty member, Benjamin Han, MD, MPH. Dr. Han has also had his research featured in the news based on his recent study showing that older adults with functional impairment are at higher risk of medical cannabis use, as well as prescription opioid and tranquilizer/sedative use and misuse. Read more here. He was also featured in U.S. News & World Report commenting on meth addiction and older adults. Be sure to also read his blog post titled: Does Grandma Really Understand the Potential Risks of Cannabis?

Congratulations to Dr. Marquine for leading a collaborative project aimed at developing neuropsychological normative data for Spanish-speaking adults living in the U.S., titled the Neuropsychological Norms for the U.S.-Mexico Border Region in Spanish (NP-NUMBRS). Her work will benefit many patients and clinicians working with Spanish-speakers in the U.S. This impactful work has been published in a special issue of The Clinical Neuropsychologist released February 2021. Click here to read it.

Dr. Benjamin Han co-edited a special issue of the American Society on Aging's journal Generations focused on substance use and older adults. Read it here.

Looking for COVID-19 resources specific to older adults? Visit our resources page here!

Announcements

Our senior medicine clinic has a new home! In July, we moved into a new innovative, geriatrics outpatient space designed with a coastal theme and greater capacity to see more patients! Our new address and info on our geriatricians can be found here.

WELCOME Palliative Care physicians! We are pleased to announce that we are now the Division of Geriatrics, Gerontology, and Palliative Care!

The Doris Howell Palliative Care Teams at UCSDH provide specialized, team-based care focused on the relief of symptoms and stress of serious illness at any stage of disease. The pallative care service began in 2005 and has grown to represent three inpatient consultation teams, the Step Family Foundation Inpatient Palliative Care Unit, a Palliative Psychiatry team, and a growing clinic team. Read more here.

Our division is home to the San Diego Alzheimer's Disease Resource Center for Minority Aging Research (AD-RCMAR), one of 8 centers nationally funded by the NIA with the goals to enhance the diversity of researchers studying ADRD by mentoring scientists from underrepresented groups; and to fill critical gaps in ADRD research focused on older Latinos. Our Center is a joint partnership between UC San Diego and San Diego State University. Visit our Center website to find out more here.

The website for the new San Diego Nathan Shock Center of Excellence in the Biology of Aging, a collaboration between Salk, SBP, and UCSD, is now live! Check it out!

GRC Seminar Series is back with an exciting fall and winter schedule. We regularly distribute our newsletter informing our community about research opportunities, publications and local events. Career development and training pertaining to gerontology research are also provided. Subscribe now by sending an email

to: gero@ucsd.edu

Funding Opportunities

NIA Concepts Newly Approved: Check the NIA blog listing areas that may turn into funding announcements in the future.

Education

Fellowship: The 2021-22 year is in full swing and we are delighted to be working with our newest group of fellows! Find out more about our fellows and our program here. Interested in completing a geriatrics fellowship here at UC San Diego? Recruitment has begun for 2022-23. Find out more here about the application process.

More Information

Elder abuse affects millions of older adults, but often goes undetected! Thanks to recent funding from the Archstone Foundation, our division is actively working with other universities in California to enhance the training in our residency programs on this important topic!

Grand Rounds: Join us for our monthly series, with a range of talks from experts in the fields of geriatrics, gerontology and palliative care. Next session will be on Tuesday, November 2, 2021 at 12-1 pm. Topic of the next grand rounds is "Giving Feedback to Physicians; Experience in an Integrated Non-Profit Community Health System" presented by Dr. Charles F. von Gunten.

To obtain log-in information, please email jathomas@health.ucsd.edu

lmproving Geriatrics Education in the Community: SDSU and UCSD are co-leads on a Geriatrics Workforce Enhancement Program (GWEP) grant to continue the San Diego/Imperial Geriatric Education Center and its important work educating local communities on Alzheimer's Disease and geriatrics!

Looking for a good read? You might enjoy Dr. Louise Aronson's book titled: “Elderhood: Redefining Aging, Transforming Medicine, Reimagining Life". We were fortunate to host Dr. Aronson on the UCSD campus with a lunch event that brought together over 100 community members!

We are tremendously grateful to the Hollander Trust for their generous donation in support of our geriatrics fellowship program in memory of Dr. Trude Hollander.