October 26, 2006
New center for geriatric research funded
By Roberta Wilkes
Department of Medicine
Drs. Elizabeth A. Phelan, assistant professor of medicine (Gerontology and Geriatric Medicine), and Barbara B. Cochrane, associate professor of nursing (Family and Child Nursing), are co-principal investigators of a new two-year grant from RAND and the John A. Hartford Foundation to establish the UW Center for Interdisciplinary Geriatric Research.
The grant is part of the RAND/Hartford Foundation initiative “Building Interdisciplinary Geriatric Health Care Research Centers.”
In their award notice, RAND officials said, “The receipt of this award, conferred by a national advisory panel of experts, signifies both the ongoing importance of the University’s work in the field of geriatrics, as well as the promise of significant future contributions.” The UW has achieved a national reputation as a leading scientific research and training institution for health professionals.
The six health sciences schools at the UW (Dentistry, Medicine, Nursing, Pharmacy, Public Health and Community Medicine, and Social Work) are each ranked among the best in the nation because they offer outstanding breadth and depth in health-related research and training.
The new center will involve all six health sciences schools, as well as the Institute on Aging and the Gerontology Consortium, with leadership and mentorship cores drawn from faculty in multiple units.
Its mission is to build capacity for conducting interdisciplinary research by fostering center identity and sustainability, promoting linkages between schools and departments that will encourage collaboration and training and mentoring junior faculty to conduct interdisciplinary geriatric research.
UW is one of seven institutions in the country to receive such funding in this second round of awards. RAND provides $200,000 in support and UW provides $100,000.
The Leadership Core of the center includes Nancy R. Hooyman, School of Social Work; H. Asuman Kiyak, School of Dentistry; and James LoGerfo, School of Medicine. The Mentorship Core includes Soo Borson, School of Medicine; Basia Belza, School of Nursing; Marcia Ciol, School of Medicine; Shelly L. Gray, School of Pharmacy; and Jürgen Unützer, School of Medicine.
The program faculty will include junior and senior faculty and investigators from many departments in health sciences.
