As medical science continues to find ways to extend human life, it is inevitable that issues related to aging will come to permeate nearly every discipline of biomedical study. This assertion is buttressed by the fact that the percentage of people over age 65 will soon double and the over-85 demographic is the fastest growing section of the population. It is projected that one in five Americans will be over 65 when the baby boom generation enters its senior years in the next five to twenty-five years.

Ironically, the Section of Geriatrics, created in 2000, is one of the younger sections within the Department of Medicine, though one of vital importance to the medical community at the University of Chicago. Even before it's creation as a separate section, the geriatrics program at The University of Chicago had been recognized for its excellence in patient care, teaching, and research for many years. U.S. News and World Report has consistently rated the program one of the top programs in the state of Illinois and in the top 19 in the nation. Since its inception, the Section of Geriatrics has grown from seven to twelve full time faculty members, making it one of the larger programs in the country. The section has an international reputation for cutting-edge research in some rather unusual areas, including informed consent for dementia research and end-of-life care for patients with dementia. This work has influenced the policies and agendas of organizations such as the American Geriatrics Society, the Alzheimer's Association, and NIH. Other areas of research include the role of anxiety in decision-making in older patients, urinary incontinence, palliative care, and geriatric oncology. The research efforts of the section faculty are of such caliber that many have received a wide variety of competitive funding, from both federal and non-federal sources.

“Our faculty are conducting groundbreaking research and have been rewarded for their efforts with a number of distinguished grants,” Section Chief Greg Sachs, M.D., Professor of Medicine says. “For example, we are one of only seven institutions nationwide to have grants through both the Donald W. Reynolds Foundation and the John A. Hartford Foundation, both of which are extremely selective and competitive in their awards selection. Grants like these, coupled with our NIH funding, speak volumes about the quality of the research we are conducting within our section and at the University.”

Sachs believes that researchers in the Division of the Biological Sciences are uniquely qualified to address the "demographic imperative" of an aging society, in part because of the spirit of interdisciplinary collaboration at the University of Chicago.

Sachs points out that Geriatrics already has become a center for innovation in a variety of areas related to aging. For example, Sachs is the mentoror co-mentor for 4 junior faculty in other sections or departments with career development grants in aging research. The section also has a major collaboration ongoing between geriatrics, general medicine, and hospitalists to improve the quality of care provided to older, frail patients in a hospital setting. This collaboration, supported by a $2 million grant from the Reynolds Foundation, includes an attempt to measure the impact of a teaching initiative on the quality of care of patients.

“It is rare in medical education to actually try to quantify the impact such a collaboration might have on the patients, but I think that this becomes one of our greatest strengths,” says Sachs. “By attempting to measure our impact, we can actually target areas that we need to focus on in terms of teaching and research. It really is a very valuable method.”

Dr. Sachs also serves as Co-Director, with James A. Mastrianni, M.D., Ph.D., Professor in the Department of Neurology, of the Center for Comprehensive Care and Research on Memory Disorders, also known as the Memory Center. This center brings neurologists, geriatricians, psychiatrists, and neuropsychologists together to provide a multidisciplinary approach for people with memory disorders to come and receive fast and accurate diagnoses and effective plans for management of their conditions.

“The Memory Center has provided us with a single location where we can all learn from each other and work together to provide the best possible care for the patients we see,” says Sachs. “It is an outstanding example of what a true multidisciplinary team care looks like in a practical, real-world setting.” Sachs says that the Center is also a great venue for interdisciplinary teaching and research.
Caring for an aging population is a topic that will only become an even higher priority for the medical community at large as more and more people enjoy longer lives.

“We are at the forefront of this aging trend,” says Sachs. “It is our responsibility to do all we can now to prepare for this demographic shift and to continue to seek out the answers to all of the questions we still have about aging and caring for the elderly.”

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