The American Geriatrics Society, in partnership with the AGS Foundation for Health in Aging, the John A. Hartford Foundation, and the Atlantic Philanthropies, has announced the recipients of fifteen awards totaling nearly $2.1 million to support research to improve health care for the rapidly growing population of older adults.

The awards address a critical need for physicians, researchers, and medical specialists and academics with expertise in geriatrics, as well as for further geriatrics research. There are fewer than seven thousand certified geriatricians nationwide — just half of the estimated number currently needed — and only sixty-two geriatrics fellows were in their second or subsequent years of training in research in 2003. According to AGS, the marked shortage of clinicians and researchers is expected to worsen dramatically over the next twenty-five years.

"It's with the help of talented physician-researchers such as the winners of these awards that we hope to improve care for our increasing population of older adults and to pursue much-needed research in elder health care," said Meghan Gerety, board chair of AGS and the AGS Foundation for Health in Aging.

Ten recipients received Dennis W. Jahnigen Career Development Scholars awards, which seek to help ameliorate the shortage of academicians in surgical and other medical specialties who have a special interest in, and knowledge of, the care of older adults. Over the course of two years, each Jahnigen scholar will receive $150,000, with institutions providing an additional $50,000 in matching support. In addition, four physician-researchers received Hartford Geriatrics Health Outcomes Research Scholars awards, which come with $130,000 in salary and research support. The T. Franklin Williams Research Scholars award went to Lona Mody of the University of Michigan, who will receive $75,000 over two years for research into the implications of anti-microbial resistance in nursing homes.

For a complete list of recipients, see: http://www.americangeriatrics.org/news/hartford_awards.shtml.