Center for Health Equity Research and Promotion
Expert on vulnerable older Veterans joins CHERP
The overall goal of Dr. Brown’s research is to improve function among socioeconomically vulnerable older adults. To achieve this goal, she has examined the burden, risk factors, and outcomes of functional impairment and other geriatric conditions among vulnerable older populations.
Rebecca Brown, MD, MS, a nationally recognized expert on how to improve function and health among socioeconomically vulnerable older Veterans, has joined the VA Center for Health Equity Research (CHERP) as Core Investigator and the Michael Crescenz VA Medical Center as Attending Physician. Dr. Brown is also Assistant Professor of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania’s Perelman School of Medicine.
The overall goal of Dr. Brown’s research is to improve function among socioeconomically vulnerable older adults. To achieve this goal, she has examined the burden, risk factors, and outcomes of functional impairment and other geriatric conditions among vulnerable older populations.
She is now working to develop targeted interventions to improve function for older adults in both clinic and community settings, through work funded by the VA as well as the National Institute on Aging. Dr. Brown is Principal Investigator on a VA Quality Enhancement Research Initiative (QUERI) study, Implementation of Standardized Functional Status for Older Veterans, which focuses on improving identification and management of functional impairment for older Veterans in primary care settings.
In her clinical work, Dr. Brown supervises and trains medical students, residents, and fellows while providing care for older patients at Corporal Michael J. Crescenz VA Medical Center (CMCVAMC) in Philadelphia.
Links to some recent publications:
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Brown RT, Covinsky KE. Frailty as an Outcome in Geriatrics Research: Not Ready for Prime Time? Ann Intern Med. 2018 Mar 06; 168(5):361-362. PMID: 29310132. -
Makaroun LK, Brown RT, Diaz-Ramirez LG, Ahalt C, Boscardin WJ, Lang-Brown S, Lee S. Wealth-Associated Disparities in Death and Disability in the United States and England. JAMA Intern Med. 2017 Dec 01; 177(12):1745-1753. PMID: 29059279.
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Brown RT, Diaz-Ramirez LG, Boscardin WJ, Lee SJ, Steinman MA. Functional Impairment and Decline in Middle Age: A Cohort Study. Ann Intern Med. 2017 Dec 05; 167(11):761-768. PMID: 29132150.
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Spar MJ, Nicosia FM, Steinman MA, Brown RT. Current approaches to measuring functional status among older adults in VA primary care clinics. Fed Pract. 2017 Sep; 34(9):26-31. PMID: 29706753.View in: PubMed
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Brown RT, Hemati K, Riley ED, Lee CT, Ponath C, Tieu L, Guzman D, Kushel MB. Geriatric Conditions in a Population-Based Sample of Older Homeless Adults. Gerontologist. 2017 Aug 01; 57(4):757-766. PMID: 26920935.
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Brown RT, Komaiko KD, Shi Y, Fung KZ, Boscardin WJ, Au-Yeung A, Tarasovsky G, Jacob R, Steinman MA. Bringing functional status into a big data world: Validation of national Veterans Affairs functional status data. PLoS One. 2017; 12(6):e0178726. PMID: 28570678.
