The 2023 Clin-STAR and Beeson Annual Meetings were held in Santa Ana, New Mexico, November 14-17.
AFAR is responsible for organizing these meetings through a NIA R13 Conference grant in conjunction with the Paul B. Beeson Emerging Leaders Career Development Award in Aging (K76) and our role as the National Program Office for the NIA-funded Clin-STAR Coordinating Center.
The meetings serve as a forum for career development, scientific exchange, mentoring, and networking. The Clin-STAR meeting is scheduled prior to the Beeson meeting and has one overlapping day with the Beeson meeting, providing greater opportunities for networking and mentoring between the two programs.
Susan Zieman, MD, PhD, Medical Officer at the NIA, Division of Geriatrics and Clinical Gerontology, welcomed attendees. The meeting began with a Keynote Address presenting a framework on shared decision making in geriatrics by Terri Fried, MD, of the Yale School of Medicine.
Welcoming Remarks, Susan Zieman, MD, PhD
Keynote Address, Terri Fried, MD
The Keynote Address was followed by a panel discussion on current care with the health priorities of older, multimorbid adults, special challenges in health care decision making for patients with dementia, and shared decision making when surgery is needed.
The meeting also included a session titled “Emerging Technologies to Support Aging: From Development to Access and Use”, as well as several career development sessions, including Small Group Networking, Data Blitz, Speed Mentoring, and Office Hours where Clin-STAR attendees were matched with Beeson scholars and Beeson alumni.
The first day of the Beeson meeting kicked off with the Robin Barr Keynote Address by National Institutes of Health Chief Officer for Scientific Workforce Diversity, Marie A. Bernard, MD.
Robin Barr Keynote Address, Marie A. Bernard, MD.
The following days featured career development activities for current and alumni Beeson scholars, including consultancies, speed networking sessions, and aims workshops. In a Data Blitz session, Beeson scholars were able to present summaries of their research to one another, while learning about the work of other Scholars. Graduating Beeson scholars also had the opportunity to present their research, as well as host short Q&A’s following their presentations.
2019 Beeson Scholar, Jason Roh, MD
There was also time for informal networking, most including the annual sing-along, encouraging participants to continue making lasting connections with their fellow Scholars.
After discussions on diversity in research and team science, a speed mentoring session, and poster presentations, the 2023 Beeson Annual Meeting was adjourned.
