On February 2nd, 2025, The New York Times published a Letter to the Editor by AFAR Executive Director Stephanie Lederman, EdM. Co-authored by James Appleby, Executive Director of the Gerontological Society of America (GSA), the letter responds to a recent Opinion column, “The Decline in Geriatric Care Hurts Us All.”
In the letter, the leaders advocate for improved access to quality healthcare for aging populations. They outline several key actions that the government, private funders, medical schools, and healthcare providers can take to address this issue. They emphasize the importance of investing in this field by suggesting that "the National Institutes of Health should increase funding for research into the basic biology of aging and new approaches to age-related chronic diseases" as a significant step forward.
As part of its mission to support and advance healthy aging through biomedical research, AFAR has long supported the career growth and research of clinician-scientists to improve health outcomes for older adults. Today, AFAR serves as the national program office for the Clinician-Scientists Transdisciplinary Aging Research (Clin-STAR) Coordinating Center. Additionally, AFAR organizes the Annual Meetings of the Clin-STAR and The Paul B. Beeson Emerging Leaders Career Development Award in Aging (K76) programs for clinician-researchers.
Read the full Letter to the Editor here.
Read the original Opinion column “The Decline in Geriatric Care Hurts Us All” here.
