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outh Florida is home to a diverse, large, and growing older adult population. As life expectancy continues to increase, it is important for individuals and societies that longevity gain is accompanied by quality of life maintenance. Getting older is not synonymous with becoming frail, as evidenced by the substantial proportion of older adults who remain healthy and active later in life. Focused on the generation and dissemination of scientific knowledge for improved healthcare of older adults in South Florida and beyond, the Benjamin Leon Center for Geriatric Research and Education at Florida International University (FIU) was recently established.
outh Florida is home to a diverse, large, and growing older adult population. As life expectancy continues to increase, it is important for individuals and societies that longevity gain is accompanied by quality of life maintenance. Getting older is not synonymous with becoming frail, as evidenced by the substantial proportion of older adults who remain healthy and active later in life. Focused on the generation and dissemination of scientific knowledge for improved healthcare of older adults in South Florida and beyond, the Benjamin Leon Center for Geriatric Research and Education at Florida International University (FIU) was recently established.The Center was made possible by a $10 million gift to FIU from the Benjamin Leon Jr. Family and Leon Medical Centers. The gift is among the largest contributions ever made by a Cuban-American family to a U.S. University. Leon Medical Centers is Miami’s leading Medicare healthcare services provider serving patients on Leon Medical Centers Health Plans, recently awarded the prestigious 5-star rating by the Centers of Medicare & Medicaid Services. To lead the development of the Center, which is part of FIU’s Herbert Wertheim College of Medicine, Paulo Chaves, M.D., Ph.D., was recruited. Before coming to FIU as Director of the Benjamin Leon Center for Geriatric Research and Education, and Leon Medical Centers Endowed Chair in Geriatrics, Dr. Chaves, a geriatrician and clinical epidemiologist, spent 10 years at Johns Hopkins University, where he was core faculty member of the University’s Center on Aging and Health and the Division of Geriatric Medicine and Gerontology, and directed the Epidemiology of Aging program of the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health.
FIU’s Benjamin Leon Center for Geriatric Research and Education is committed to clinical translational interdisciplinary research seeking to advance healthy aging promotion, accelerated functional decline prevention, and healthcare delivery in older populations. Research initiatives currently being developed include studies on the role of exercise, cognitive activities, and social engagement in well-being maintenance; and on clinical decision-making related to prevention and management of age-related chronic diseases, frailty, and falls in the primary care setting. Additionally, the Center is involved in national and international research efforts. In collaboration with Johns Hopkins University and University of Maryland scientists, the Center participates in a National Institute on Aging-funded study assessing the impact of short-term changes in muscle strength on disability progression in community-dwelling older women. The Center participates in the Cardiovascular Health Study, an on-going multicenter study funded by the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute that recruited almost 6,000 older men and women in the early 90’s. Collaboration with Tokyo Metropolitan Institute of Gerontology scientists in research on mild cognitive impairment and social isolation in older adults has also been initiated.
The Center seeks to foster discussion about health themes of utmost relevance for aging individuals, communities, and societies. In this context, the Center has launched a Distinguished Seminar Series on Aging and Health, which engages renowned experts, faculty and students, and stakeholders in the discussion of discoveries and state-of-the-art knowledge pertaining to Geriatrics and Gerontology. Last April, the Series featured Dr. Elizabeth Arias, a social scientist and demographer with the National Center for Health Statistics, who presented cutting-edge data on life expectancy for the U.S. according to race, gender, and Hispanic origin. The Center engages in other forums as well. For example, it participates as a Steering Committee member of the Health Foundation of South Florida-led Miami-Dade Age Friendly Initiative funded by Pfizer and Grantmakers in Aging, and in conferences organized by major professional societies. The Center also seeks to promote geriatrics training among primary care providers in South Florida and in Latin America.