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Discover Geriatric Medicine ‘Research’ Thomas Jackson Clinical Fellow in Ageing Research Visiting Consultant in Geriatric Medicine Joint British Geriatrics Society & Research into Ageing Fund-Age UK What is it? • Acquisition of new knowledge – Systematic way, test and develop theories • Broad church – Observational – Epidemiological – Lab based, or patient based, or both – Interventional – drugs, devices, systems – Qualitative Bernard Isaacs The Father of Geriatric Medicine (1924-1995) Famous in Birmingham and Beyond Charles Haywood Professor of Geriatric Medicine in Birmingham (1974-1989) Bernard Isaacs Obituary Instability • Why do some older people lose muscle mass and function? – Sarcopaenia • What gaits are predictive of disease and falls • Why is it that older people seem to have such resilient renal function? Intellectual failure • Is dementia a disease of early/middle life? – treatments don’t seem to work • What is persistent delirium? • Why is delirium so hetrogenous? Immobility • Why does hospitalisation seem to ‘speed up’ dementia and functional decline? • Why is immobility a death sentence? • Why is OA so common, yet so poorly treated? Incontinence • Why so much incontinence? • Why do we not care? – Better treatments – Better management • Why does constipation make everything bad? Iatrogenesis • Why do other physicians seem to not care about older people and there problems • Care closer to home seems to not work but is pushed as the answer to everything? • Does HDU/ITU work for older people? • Pharmacology – Vast number of drugs not researched in older people • Biological basis of disease – Improving health-span – Inflammageing (Low grade chronic up-regualtion of inflammation) • Ad-hoc projects (audits, lit reviews) – most • Small pilot projects needing ethical review – some • MSc thesis – some • Full time clinical fellowships – few Mentorship • teaching, professional and personal guidance, sponsorship, role modelling, and socialization into a profession Idea Project • MRC-ARUK Centre for Musculoskeletal Ageing – Joint with Nottingham University – Clinical PhD Studentships 2014 • Cognitive Neuroimaging Laboratory • Medawar Centre for Healthy Ageing Research Thank you! [email protected]