Midcareer award in aging-related subspecialty research

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Project Summary Abstract Career Objectives: My long-term career goals are to conduct research that understands how digital health tools can be used to improve care of older adults, to understand aging-specific barriers to these tools, and to become an exceptional mentor for junior scientists. My short-term objectives during the award period, which will help me to reach these goals, are as follows: (1) To gain further expertise in digital app development, with a focus on measuring aging-related impairments; (2) To implement a junior faculty training program that focuses on understanding risk for older patients in the medical and surgical subspecialties; (3) To become a national leader in research at the intersection of geriatrics and digital health. To achieve my objectives I will complete a structured program of career development that will strengthen my own research skills and my ability to mentor others. I have assembled a team of faculty for my career training with expertise in geriatrics, computer science, and geriatric cardiology. I will meet with these experts on a regular basis and in parallel will pursue structured coursework and attendance at national scientific meetings. Mentoring Plan: I have mentored over 20 trainees to date and will have 4 junior faculty mentees at the start of the award, all of whom hold (or will soon be applying for) extramural funding. My mentees will complete a training program that includes both formal didactics and regular 1:1 meetings with me in order to monitor progress. I will also identify new trainees during the award period through several methods, including the NYU Cardiology Fellowship Program (where I serve as core faculty), the NYU Department of Population Health, and national professional societies where I have been involved in several geriatrics-focused committees. Research Plan: The proposed research for this award aligns with my career development activities and will provide opportunities for mentees. Our research plan focuses on use of the GeriKit app, a geriatric assessment tool that was developed through NYU’s Geriatric Cardiology Program and is available for free on Apple’s iOS and Google’s Android operating systems. We will first test GeriKit on a sample of 150 older adults (age ≥75) with ischemic heart disease to evaluate whether the burden of measured impairments predicts readmission and mortality (primary composite outcome) as well as health status (secondary outcome) (Aim 1). We will then convene a group of expert faculty to add the domains of delirium, hearing impairment, and vision impairment to GeriKit, and will test functionality on 20 older adults (Aim 2). Finally, we will work with NYU Medical Center Information Technology (MCIT) to integrate GeriKit with the electronic health record (EHR) so that geriatric impairments become viewable in patients’ medical histories. This step is critical in clinicians recognizing the presence of geriatric impairments, which may influence clinical decision making. Summary: I have a strong commitment to mentoring, and this award will enable me to become a truly exceptional mentor who trains the next generation of clinician-scientists focused on improving the health of older adults.