2026 Center on Aging Pilot and Innovations Grant Announcements |
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Thank you to everyone who submitted a Letter of Intent.
We are excited to share that we received another record-breaking number of submissions this year!
At this time, all applicants should have been notified regarding whether they are being invited to move forward to Step 2: the full application.
If you have not received a notification or have any questions about your status, please feel free to reach out and direct them to Heather Podolan, Academic Program Manager, or Dr. Alayne Markland, Executive Director.
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🎉 Spotlight on Dr. Mark Supiano! 🎉
We are pleased to share that Dr. Mark Supiano was prominently featured in the New York Times in an article titled "How Low Can You Go?’ The Shifting Guidelines for Blood Pressure Control".
The piece explores evolving recommendations around blood pressure management and highlights Dr. Supiano’s expert perspective on the importance of keeping both heart and brain health in mind when treating hypertension.
As Dr. Supiano reminds us: “What is good for the brain is also good for the heart.”
This national recognition underscores his leadership and continued influence in advancing evidence‑based care for older adults.
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Supporting Excellence in Geriatrics
We are pleased to share that Drs. Mark and Katherine “Kathie” Supiano have generously committed $25,000 to establish the Drs. Mark A. and Katherine P. Supiano Endowed Fund for Clinical Excellence in Geriatrics at the University of Utah.
This new endowed fund will provide ongoing support for faculty within the Division of Geriatrics, helping them advance their academic careers and pursue innovative clinical, educational, and research initiatives. As the fund grows, it will ultimately support an endowed professorship, further strengthening leadership, scholarship, and clinical excellence in the care of older adults.
The Supianos’ gift reflects their long‑standing dedication to improving geriatric care and fostering innovation in the field. Their generosity will have a lasting impact, supporting future generations of clinicians and scholars committed to advancing the health and well‑being of older adults.
Join us in shaping the future of geriatrics!
To contribute—or to learn more about supporting this important work—please visit University of Utah Giving (Alex Phillips, alex.j.phillips@utah.edu). You may also reach out directly to the Division of Geriatrics for more information.
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🎉 Congratulations to Dr. Natalie Sanders and Dr. Nicholas Brening! 🎉
We are thrilled to share that both Dr. Natalie Sanders and Dr. Nicholas Brening have been named Best Geriatric Physicians in the 2026 Salt Lake City Weekly Newspaper.
This recognition highlights their exceptional dedication, compassionate patient care, and continued commitment to improving the lives of older adults in our community.
Link here
Please join us in congratulating Dr. Sanders and Dr. Brening on this outstanding achievement!
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Center on Aging New Member and Pilot Highlight |
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April Mohanty, PhD, MPH, is an Associate Professor in the Department of Internal Medicine, Division of Epidemiology at the University of Utah. Dr. Mohanty is also a Research Health Scientist and core investigator at the Informatics, Decision Enhancement, and Analytic Sciences Center at the Salt Lake City VA Medical Center. Dr. Mohanty’s professional mission is to improve the quality of healthcare related to chronic disease prevention, management, and outcomes for communities by advancing team science and team scientists. Her work, primarily conducted in the Veterans Health Administration, spans research on cardiovascular and complex chronic diseases, military and environmental exposures, and social risk. Dr. Mohanty completed her graduate training in Epidemiology from the University of Washington, Seattle in 2013. Following graduate school, she completed a postdoctoral fellowship in Medical Informatics at the Salt Lake City VA and joined the University of Utah, as an Assistant Professor in 2018. Her research integrates methods from epidemiology, health services, biomedical informatics, and implementation science to address gaps in care. Dr. Mohanty was born in Rochester, MN just south of the rural river town of Red Wing, MN where her maternal grandparents had a hobby farm. In her free time, Dr. Mohanty loves to spend time with her husband and daughters outside, biking, traveling, gardening, and cooking.
Dr. Mohanty’s 2025 Center on Aging Pilot Grant Award is titled, “Improving 4Ms Integration within Medicare Annual Wellness Visits (AWV).” Dr. Mohanty’s team is working to understand clinicians’ age-friendly 4Ms (What Matters, Medication, Mentation, and Mobility) documentation during Medicare AWVs to support broader implementation. They will complete an in-depth analysis through clinician interviews and chart reviews to identify 4Ms care during Medicare AWVs at two UUH geriatric outpatient clinics. Study findings will be shared with the UUH systems ambulatory quality team and inform future work to expand 4Ms integration to additional clinical settings, particularly those offering AWVs.
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Melissa Green, PharmD, BCACP, BCGP presented a lecture entitled “Glucose Management and the Care of Older Adults with Diabetes” for the Department of Family Medicine and Public Health CME series on March 18, 2026. Dr. Green demonstrated how the age-friendly 4Ms inform medication management for this population and provided clinical pearls for an audience of primary care clinicians from family medicine and internal medicine. She also presented this lecture at Geriatrics Division Translational Grand Rounds on March 10, 2026. Thank you, Dr. Green, for sharing best practices in age-friendly prescribing with our primary care colleagues!
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U of Utah Age-Friendly Collaborative Meetings
We welcome your participation in our monthly U of U Age-Friendly Collaborative virtual meeting that occurs on the 3rd Friday of each month from 9:00 – 10:00 AM. Please contact Please contact Heather Podolan (heather.podolan@hsc.utah.edu) for more information.
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The Department of Internal Medicine and the Division of Geriatrics
present
Internal Medicine / Geriatrics Grand Rounds
GUIDE and Beyond: Efforts to Expand Access to Comprehensive Dementia Care through the National Dementia Care Collaborative
Kristin Lees Haggerty, PhD, MA
Project Director II, U.S. Division
Education Development Center
Assistant Professor of Gerontology in Emergency Medicine (courtesy)
Department of Emergency Medicine, Division of Geriatric Emergency Medicine
Weill Cornell Medicine / New York-Presbyterian Hospital
Thursday, April 16, 2026
Noon – 1:00 pm
Link: Grand Rounds - U of U School of Medicine | University of Utah
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The College of Nursing will be hosting monthly updates on their Aging In Utah Today series. Sponsored by the Hartford Center for Gerontological Nursing Excellence, each month will feature three short 15-minute presentations across three categories. Scan the QR Code below for all the details.
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American Geriatrics Society
April 30 - May 2, 2026
Virtual Annual Scientific Meeting
Register Here
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The Annual American Aging Association Meeting will take place this summer in Provo UT (Jun 2-6) with the theme of “Geroscience from Discovery to Application”. The link to register is located here - note the earlybird meeting registration (Apr 30). The American Aging Association Society is made up of researchers and lay persons dedicated to the study of aging from basic science to clinical translation and represents one of main societies in the US focused on geroscience.
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4th Biennial Conference on Caregiving Research
Reaching New Heights: Elevating Caregiving Research, Policy, and Practice
September 23-25, 2026 | Salt Lake City, Utah
The Family Caregiving Collaborative at the University of Utah College of Nursing is proud to host the 4th Biennial Conference on Caregiving Research, Reaching New Heights: Elevating Caregiving Research, Policy, and Practice. Join experts in caregiving research, policy, and practice.
Sign up for Updates
Registration and Hotel Reservation Hub will open May 1, 2026.
We've arranged for a room block at the Salt Lake City Marriott City Center. Please book your stay using our dedicated link for a special rate, available soon.
We look forward to welcoming you to Utah for the 4th Biennial Caregiving Conference! The conference will be held at the Salt Lake City Marriott City Center, located downtown Salt Lake City.
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Geriatric Division Conferences |
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Please join the University of Utah, Division of Geriatrics and the Veteran Affairs Salt Lake City Geriatric Research, Education and Clinical Center for Geriatric Grand Rounds and Translational Grand Rounds on Tuesday mornings.
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Dr. Rebecca Perkins, an Assistant Professor with the College of Nursing and Dr. Carson De Fries, an Assistant Professor with the College of Social Work has asked us to include these two Organization Recruitment Flyers.
The Gerontological Society of America (GSA) is the oldest and largest interdisciplinary organization focused on research, education, and practice in aging. It brings together students, faculty, and professionals across disciplines to advance innovation and improve the lives of older adults, offering access to conferences, publications, mentorship, and a broad professional network.
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Sigma Phi Omega (SPO) is an international honor and professional society in gerontology that recognizes academic excellence and service in aging. Through local chapters, students, faculty, and professionals engage in research, leadership, and community-based initiatives that support older adults.
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UCOA is working with the Rural Health Association of Utah on several fronts. RHAU is part of the consortium along with DHHS and UTN that will have decision and distribution responsibilities on the RHTP funds being rolled out in the state. UCOA will be applying for funds in a join collaboration with Tech Charities to provide equipment and training so rural Utahns can utilize technology to access health care information and comfortably navigate telemedicine and tele-visits. Ence has also been in conversation with Jaleen Johnson of UTN in accessing digital navigator training materials.
Ence will also be heading up a group of colleagues to shape a pre-conference session at the November RHAU conference in St. George. The session will focus on building a health care caucus on incorporating older adult issues in the health care dialogue. UCOA and the state plan will be featured at the conference.
With the wrap of the legislative session, the UCOA was renewed until 2031, and the funding base remains with a modest increase in funding.
UCOA recently presented to the Aging In Utah (AIUT) educational series on the master plan. In other educational engagements, UCOA continues to meet with CHCS MPA partners, consulted with a U PhD student on connecting resources to assist with project studying married couples divorcing to meet Medicaid spend-down requirements to become eligible for benefits.
Ence also participated in the series looking at CMS Hospital Measures specifically addressing emergency room interventions and the application of frailty measures and screenings to assist emergency departments abilities to honor Age-Friendly 4M domains. Ence also joined the New Landscape: HR1 and What’s at Stake for Family Caregivers.
Executive Director Ence was a recent presenter at the UOMA (Utah Osteopathic Medical Association) annual conference in Ivins, Utah. Ence presented on fraud and abuse in older adults and what red flags are possible indicators of the five prominent categories of abuse.
UCOA kept up its routine engagements of WINGS work on conservatorships and guardianship screenings. Ence will be working the second round on refining the advance directive with a team from the community and the legal advisors at the HSC.
Ence was a recent presenter on a Pew Charities Research Trush webinar along with representatives from municipal leadership from Baltimore, Philadelphia, and New York City. Ence brough the perspective of state-wide planning and coordinating with municipalities on core aging issues.
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Major upcoming funding opportunity for teams focused on rural health, workforce development, health technologies, health systems innovation, and community-based interventions.
Link Here for Upcoming Funding Opportunities
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Please Update your Directory Information |
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The bristlecone pine tree (Pinus longaeva) - the earth’s oldest inhabitant with a life span of almost 5,000 years - is found only in Utah and five other western states. Its extraordinary longevity and ability to adapt and survive in extremely harsh environmental conditions above 10,000 feet embodies the investigative spirit and mission of the Utah Center on Aging.
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U of Utah Division of Geriatrics 30 N Mario Capecchi Dr., 2nd Floor North | Salt Lake City, UT 84112 US
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