Overview
Current research focuses on the epidemiology, prediction, and prevention of osteoporotic fractures in elderly persons, and in improving the quality of care delivered to residents in skilled nursing facilities. Ongoing projects include a large, administrative database study of osteoporosis screening in men, a randomized trial of different staff education strategies to improve fall prevention in nursing homes, and several clinical demonstration projects.
Current Duke Appointments & Affiliations
James B. Wyngaarden Distinguished Professor of Medicine
·
2025 - Present
Medicine, Geriatrics and Palliative Care,
Medicine
Professor of Medicine
·
2017 - Present
Medicine, Geriatrics and Palliative Care,
Medicine
Chief, Division of Geriatrics in the Department of Medicine
·
2019 - Present
Medicine, Geriatrics and Palliative Care,
Medicine
Senior Fellow in the Center for the Study of Aging and Human Development
·
2003 - Present
Center for the Study of Aging and Human Development,
Institutes and Centers
Recent Scholarly Works
An Exploratory Stability Selection (ESS) framework for robust predictor discovery: An application to physical resilience in aging populations.
Journal article Exp Gerontol · October 15, 2026 Identifying biological and clinical signals that consistently predict physical resilience, defined as one's ability to maintain or regain function following a health stressor, is essential for advancing precision approaches to aging and recovery. High-dime ... Full text Link to item CiteHospital Drug Burden and Post-Discharge Health Care Utilization in Older Adults Prescribed Central Nervous System-Active Medications.
Journal article J Am Geriatr Soc · September 2026 BACKGROUND: The Drug Burden Index (DBI) quantifies cumulative exposure to anticholinergic and sedative medications and can be used to measure medication burden during hospitalization. This study evaluates using automated DBI calculations from electronic he ... Full text Link to item CiteComparing two methods to quantify physical resilience.
Journal article J Frailty Aging · August 2026 Physical resilience, conceptualized as the extent of observed recovery after a health stressor, is an important construct in research on aging and frailty. Various methods have been proposed to quantify physical resilience using repeated measures of health ... Full text Link to item CiteRecent Grants
Duke Claude D. Pepper Older Americans Independence Center
ResearchPrincipal Investigator · Awarded by National Institutes of Health · 2006 - 2031Research and Mentoring on Neurocognitive Disparities in Aging
ResearchMentor · Awarded by National Institutes of Health · 2023 - 2031Behavior and Physiology in Aging
Inst. Training Prgm or CMEMentor · Awarded by National Institute on Aging · 2015 - 2030View All Grants
Education
Johns Hopkins University ·
1994
M.D.