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Center for Health in Aging relaunches as hub for research innovation
Headshots of Dr. Camille Vaughan and Dr. Ken Hepburn

Camille Vaughan, MD, MS, (left) is director of the Emory Center for Health in Aging. Ken Hepburn, PhD, (right) is senior associate director for research.

The Emory Center for Health in Aging is relaunching with a renewed mission to promote the health and well-being of older adults. The center will serve as a central hub for innovation and interdisciplinary collaboration across the Emory community, focused on strengthening physical, psychological, social and spiritual health.

By 2050, Atlanta will boast more than one million citizens over the age of 75. As the most comprehensive academic health care system in Georgia, Emory will play a critical role in meeting the demands of this aging population.

The Center for Health in Aging seeks to build the capacity of Emory and its partners to discover, design, implement and test programs and interventions that promote the health and personal growth of older adults. Under the new directorship of Camille Vaughan, MD, MS, key goals of the center include:  

  • Understanding interactions between multiple chronic conditions and innovating management strategies.
  • Piloting interventions focused on navigating the health care system and promoting age-friendly health care.
  • Optimizing self-determination, including at the end of life.
  • Promoting mastery in caregiving in a variety of conditions and settings of care.
  • Addressing turbulence management through strategies to manage unexpected changes in health status or independence.
  • Nurturing spiritual well-being, creativity and civic engagement.

“We are excited to reintroduce the Center for Health in Aging to the Emory community,” says Vaughan. “Atlanta is a vibrant economic and cultural center poised to lead the development of a new and highly diverse civil society. Funding from the Woodruff Health Sciences Center will catalyze the creative engagement of the Emory community to address novel questions focused on the health and well-being of older adults in the Atlanta region.”

Vaughan is an associate professor and director of the Division of Geriatrics and Gerontology at the Emory University Department of Medicine. Her clinical practice is based at the Atlanta VA Medical Center, the Emory Clinic at Decatur and the Emory Parkinson’s Disease Comprehensive Care Clinic. 

Ken Hepburn, PhD, will serve as senior associate director for research. He is a professor in the Nell Hodgson Woodruff School of Nursing and co-director of the Emory Roybal Center for Dementia Caregiving Mastery. 

A key component of the relaunched center will be the research of its pilot program awardees. Four cross-disciplinary proposals from across Emory University have been awarded up to $45,000 each for projects related to health in aging.

The center will also establish a research academy initially focused on supporting early-career faculty of the Woodruff Health Sciences Center with individual coaching to promote grant submissions. Faculty interested in learning more are encouraged to email aging@emory.edu.

As Atlanta continues to attract residents of all ages, the Center for Health in Aging will encourage community engagement through the development of a Community Advisory Board and a series of events related to the health and well-being of older adults. For the latest information, please visit the Center for Health in Aging’s website. 


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