AGS Foundation for Health in Aging and Association of Specialty Professors Name Recipient of 2010 T. Franklin Williams Research Scholars Award

The American Geriatrics Society Foundation for Health in Aging, in collaboration with the Association of Specialty Professors, has awarded Kellie Hunter Campbell, MD, MA, of the University of Chicago, the 2010 T. Franklin Williams Research Scholars Award.

Dr. Campbell, Instructor of Medicine in the Section of Geriatrics and Palliative Medicine at the University of Chicago, received the prestigious award for her research concerning referral patterns for older adults with diabetes and chronic kidney disease (CKD) for specialty care by nephrologists, and the consequences of non-referral for these older adults. This research will help ensure that older patients who would most benefit from early nephrology intervention are identified and referred by primary care physicians.

"I am very excited about the opportunity the T. Franklin Williams Award affords me to investigate the important area of chronic kidney disease in older adults" says Dr. Campbell. "Understanding the referral patterns and clinical outcomes in this population will enable providers to identify which older patients will benefit most from early nephrology referral, thus improving patient care."

The T. Franklin Williams Research Award -- named for T. Franklin Williams, MD, a subspecialist in diabetes and geriatrician -- goes to an academic geriatrician conducting research applicable to care that specialists in internal medicine provide the elderly. The Williams Award recipient receives $75,000 over two years. These funds may be used to support the recipient's salary, the purchase of supplies, the salaries of technical personnel or other resources necessary to complete the research.

Intended to help academic geriatricians begin and sustain careers in research and education, the award is administered by the AGS Foundation for Health in Aging (FHA) in collaboration with the Association of Specialty Professors (ASP). The T. Franklin Williams Scholars Program is part of a broader effort by ASP to integrate geriatrics principles into internal medicine disciplines with the goal of improving care for older adults. With the support of the John A. Hartford Foundation and the Atlantic Philanthropies Inc. (USA), ASP is able to partner with a number of internal medicine specialty societies, including the FHA, to offer T. Franklin Williams Career Development Awards to junior faculty pursuing academic careers with a focus on the geriatrics aspect of their specialty.