Weill Medical College of Cornell University

Geriatrics Research Directory

Ronald D. Adelman, MD

Professor of Clinical Medicine; Co-Chief, Division of Geriatric Medicine

Email: rdadelma@med.cornell.edu

Tel: 212-746-1729

 

Current ongoing research projects in which residents might like to participate include: (1) a New York State Office of Mental Health grant integrating mental health care into an outpatient geriatric medical practice; (2) an Altman Foundation grant integrating a palliative care curriculum into medical residency programs; and (3) communication studies focused on communication at the end of life and communication between older patients and their health providers in outpatient medical encounters.

Emily S. Finkelstein, MD

Assistant Professor of Medicine

Email: emf9009@med.cornell.edu

Tel: 212-746-1845

I would love to work with interns and residents with an interest in advance care planning, baby boomers and successful aging, or primary care health policy reform. Areas of research interest: (1) baby boomers and advance care planning; (2) the geriatric medical home (what it entails, how it works, how much support it requires); (3) starting a time motion study of how much time physicians and other clinical staff members in the ambulatory care practice spend doing clinical activities that are non-reimbursable.

Mark S. Lachs, MD, MPH

Professor of Medicine; Co-Chief, Division of Geriatric Medicine

Email: mslachs@med.cornell.edu

Tel: 212-746-1677

Major areas of research interest are the disenfranchised elderly, elder abuse, domestic violence, and the interface of geriatrics with other specialties (e.g. oncology, emergency medicine). Currently funded projects in which residents might like to participate include: (1) a study of aggressive behaviors between nursing home residents with and without dementia; (2) a large study of elder abuse prevalence; and (3) creation of a city wide elder abuse center. In addition, I would be happy to provide general career guidance to residents interested in careers in clinical epidemiology, health services research and similar areas, whether or not they are related to aging. 

 

Maria Pavlou, MD

Assistant Professor of Medicine

Email: pavloum@med.cornell.edu

Tel: 212-746-1610

Research focuses on understanding the complex syndrome of self-neglect in older adults. The work involves exploring possible correlates of self-neglect (medical, functional, social and psychiatric) through at-home interviews of community-dwelling older self-neglectors referred by social service agencies.

 

Karl Pillemer, PhD

Hazel E. Reed Professor of Human Development, Cornell University

Professor of Gerontology in Medicine, Weill Cornell Medical College

Director of the Cornell Institute for Translational Research on Aging

Email: kap6@cornell.edu

Tel: 607-255-8086

I would be glad to work with interested residents. My areas of expertise are gerontology, with special interests in (1) family relationships of older people, including care giving for disabled elders; (2) institutional and community-based care for older people; (3) methods of disseminating research-based information to professionals and the public.

Barrie Raik, MD

Associate Professor of Clinical Medicine

Email: bar2008@med.cornell.edu

Tel: 212-746-4888

Research focuses on the ethics of screening – when does the risk outweigh the benefit? Dr. Raik is also interested in the “hidden curriculum” in medical education (e.g. what are students learning by example from attendings and residents?).

M. Cary Reid, Jr., MD, PhD

Associate Professor of Medicine; Director, Office of Geriatric Research

Email: mcr2004@med.cornell.edu

Tel: 212-746-1378

 

My major areas of interest include pain and pain management in later life and geriatric substance abuse. In addition, I have an interest in the role of community-based participatory research as a tool to improve health and health outcomes at the community level. Current research projects in which residents might like to participate include studies to: (1) develop, test, and disseminate a combined cognitive-behavioral and exercise protocol for use by community-dwelling older adults with chronic back pain; (2) develop and disseminate culturally appropriate self-management programs for pain in minority communities; (3) determine patient and physician attitudes and beliefs about the use of opioids as treatment for chronic non-cancer pain in older adults; (4) psychoactive medications with addiction potential in later life; (5) community-based participatory research as a tool for improving community health and addressing racial disparities in health, with a particular interest in its use as a tool to address established disparities in pain management as a function of race/ethnicity.

Eugenia L. Siegler, MD

Professor of Clinical Medicine

Email: els2006@med.cornell.edu

Tel: 212-746-1772, 212-746-7000

 

Areas of research interest include: (1) determining the impact of the electronic medical record on the quality of charting and the quality of the chart on patient care, liability and reimbursement; (2) examining medical records from the 1800s to determine how the narrative of patient illness has changed with the introduction of new medical knowledge and physician responsibilities.