Accepting the Challenge to Expand Geriatrics
Mark A. Supiano, MD
Mark A. Supiano, MD, traces his passion for caring for older adults back to the close bond he had with his grandfather, an immigrant from Ukraine who lived to be 90 years old. Andrew Szupiany’s remarkable life and approach to successful aging inspired his grandson to focus his medical career on the relatively new field of geriatric medicine.
Dr. Mark A. Supiano
In 1988, Dr. Supiano was in the first cohort of physicians to receive certification in geriatric medicine, which required two years of fellowship training. At that time, the Hartford Foundation had funded their first Centers of Excellence in Geriatric Medicine. Dr. Supiano’s fellowship training was supported in part by the Center of Excellence grant at the University of Michigan, led by Jeffrey B. Halter, MD, who was a mentor to Dr. Supiano. “That was one of the formative experiences in my professional development in geriatrics,” says Dr. Supiano.
Dr. Supiano remained at the University of Michigan for over 20 years, moving up through the academic ranks to full professor while conducting research on hypertension and heart failure in older adults. He also directed the Veterans Administration’s (VA) Ann Arbor Geriatric Research, Education and Clinical Center (GRECC). Dr. Supiano recalls early visits by Hartford Foundation staff to review the Center of Excellence. “On more than one occasion, the program officer encouraged me to consider leading my own program,” says Dr. Supiano.
In 2005, Dr. Supiano finally decided the time had come. He was appointed Chief of the Division of Geriatric Medicine at the University of Utah, Director of the VA Salt Lake City GRECC and Executive Director of a newly created institution-wide Center on Aging. “I accepted the position because it’s clear to me that for geriatrics to succeed as a discipline it’s not just the top programs that need to be supported,” says Dr. Supiano. “We need to have strong geriatrics programs at every medical school in the country. I realized that it was my mission to take what I learned from mentors and my experience at the University of Michigan and apply it in a leadership position at an institution where the program in geriatrics needed to be expanded.”
The University of Utah had made a commitment to enhancing geriatrics and becoming a nationally recognized program. Dr. Supiano was excited to lead the effort, but he realized he could use assistance. Turning again to the Hartford Foundation, Dr. Supiano applied and was accepted as a Hartford Geriatrics Leadership Scholar.
“The most significant benefit of the program was the mentoring, both internal and external,” says Dr. Supiano. His external mentor, Lewis Lipsitz, MD, Chief of the Division of Gerontology, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Harvard Medical School, Boston, was instrumental in helping Dr. Supiano to successfully reapply for a grant from the National Institute on Aging. The grant was crucial to help launch the Center on Aging, a university-wide, comprehensive, interdisciplinary center that serves as the University of Utah’s focal point for aging-related research, education, and clinical programs.
Dr. Mark Supiano, right, with Robert Schwartz, MD, at the 2009 ADGAP Retreat.
When Dr. Supiano arrived at the University of Utah in October 2005, there were five faculty members in the Center on Aging. Now there are over 90 faculty members, representing 10 different schools and colleges across the University. “The ADGAP Leadership program equipped me to effectively lead the expansion of the program here,” says Dr. Supiano.
“Mark was a trainee, mentee, collaborator, and critical program leader at the University of Michigan,” says Dr. Halter. “Now he is an esteemed colleague as a program leader at Utah, someone whose advice and wisdom is of great value to me and many others.”
For Dr. Supiano, who was a Hartford Geriatrics Leadership Scholar in 2005, the experience has come full circle. He now serves as external mentor for one of the current scholars.
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