Message from the Section Chiefs

Welcome to the Section of Geriatric Medicine at the Stanford University School of Medicine!

The section was created in 2015 under the leadership of Dr. Marina Martin. Dr. Martin oversaw the development of our outpatient Senior Care Clinic, inpatient geriatric consult service and Acute Care for Elders unit, Stanford presence in local skilled nursing facilities, a home-based primary care program, and a transitions of care program. Since that time, our clinical faculty has grown from a handful of practitioners to more than twenty. In January 2024, Drs. Deborah Kado and Katie Ward joined forces to continue the work of creating a multicampus presence of geriatrics here at Stanford and the VA Palo Alto Healthcare System. Stanford University School of Medicine warmly welcomed Dr. Ward to be the successor of Dr. Martin’s post as Chief of Clinical Geriatrics. Dr. Kado assumed the role of Director of the Geriatrics Education and Clinical Center (GRECC) at the VA Palo Healthcare system in August 2023 in addition to continuing her role as Chief of Geriatric Research at Stanford University.

One of our main missions at Stanford Geriatrics is to increase geriatric educational exposure. Our geriatric clinical fellowship led by Dr. Vinita Shastri since November 2022 has enjoyed continued successful recruitment of excellent clinical fellows, and Dr. Lindsey Haddock brings additional educational expertise to her role as Associate Director of the Geriatric Fellowship Program. In 2022, Dr. Kado began co-directing a course on Longevity for the undergraduate students with Dr. Laura Carstensen, Director of the Stanford Longevity Center (https://longevity.stanford.edu/) and she and Dr. Matt Mesias co-direct a well-received elective for the medical students entitled, “Being Mortal.”

In terms of research, more geriatrics faculty and trainees than ever before are leading or participating in ongoing aging related research that spans from the basic laboratory to clinical interventions. In geriatrics, we have embraced successful collaborations with colleagues in other fields that span computational biology, dermatology, emergency medicine, epidemiology, genetics, health services, industry, mechanical engineering, nephrology, neurology, physical therapy, psychiatry, surgery, surgical subspecialties, and stem cell research.

Thank you for taking the time to visit our website to learn more about our mission, people, and programs. For those who may be interested in learning more about our clinical operations, please contact Dr. Ward. For those interested in our clinical fellowship opportunities, please contact Dr. Vinita Shastri. For those interested in research, please contact Dr. Kado. We look forward to being in touch!

Deborah Kado, MD, MS, Geriatric Medicine Section Research Chief

Katherine T. Ward, MD, Geriatric Medicine Section Clinical Chief