Midcareer Award in Patient-Oriented Aging Research

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Project Summary/Abstract This application is for a continuation of a K24 Midcareer Investigator Award in Patient-Oriented Aging Research. Dr. Catherine Sarkisian, PI of the proposed award, is a geriatrician and health services researcher committed to working to improve the quality of life for ethnically diverse older adults. With the support of the K24 she has accomplished her stated aims of advancing her career as an expert in academic-community partnered research focused on minority seniors, gaining new skills in implementation science, and expanding the research platform and opportunities for her mentees. She has been highly productive, with 29 publications led by her mentees, 4 mentored awards as primary mentor (including a Beeson, GEMSTAR and a Jahnigen), and 8 new grants as PI, all of which support her mentees. Over the past several years Dr. Sarkisian's scientific work has increasingly involved partnering with public health systems to reduce “low-value care” – tests and procedures with no benefit that often harm patients and disproportionately affect older adults. She has a growing track record of high-impact publications in this area. She has obtained NIA R01 and supplemental funding to support an interdisciplinary team at UCLA Health working to implement electronic health record interventions informed by principals of behavioral economics to reduce low-value care for older adults. In 2018, the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA launched a new “Value-Based Care Research Consortium (VBCRC)” with her leadership. Dr. Sarkisian serves as the Director of the VBCRC, which has become a research home to a large number of post-doctoral fellows and junior faculty seeking Dr. Sarkisian's mentorship and the support of her diverse research team. Support of this continuation would ensure Dr. Sarkisian can maintain protected time from increased inpatient clinical obligations, allowing her to: 1) maintain her current momentum and advance her career as a sought- after mentor and high-impact scientific investigator; and 2) gain new research skills to allow her to increase her productivity as an independent scientist and impact as the Director of the UCLA VBCRC. Building upon her expertise in academic-community partnered research, she seeks to advance her scientific career as an expert in academic-health system partnerships in real-world settings to reduce wasteful spending, ensure that patients receive appropriate and high-quality care, and reduce racial and ethnic disparities in the receipt of high-value care. She seeks to solidify the VBCRC infrastructure as a platform for research for the next generation of leaders in patient-oriented research in aging and a major contributor to the national dialogue on how to reduce low-value care for older adults.