Dr. Heather E. Whitson, MD, MHS
Professor | Duke University School of Medicine
Durham, NC, UNITED STATES
She has particular interest and expertise related to the interface between age-related changes in sensory and cognitive health.
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Biography
Dr. Heather E. Whitson, MD, MHS is an internist, geriatrician, and clinical investigator. Dr. Whitson is the Director of the Duke Center for the Study of Aging and Human Development (aka Duke Aging Center). Established in 1955, the Duke Aging Center is the longest standing center in the nation devoted to the multi-disciplinary study of the aging process, spanning social, clinical, and basic sciences. Dr. Whitson’s own research agenda seeks to improve health and resilience for older adults with multiple chronic conditions (MCC).
She has particular interest and expertise related to the interface between age-related changes in sensory and cognitive health. She leads the new Duke/UNC Alzheimer’s disease initiative, a major collaborative effort which is re-imagining research and care for dementia across Eastern North Carolina. Additionally, she has contributed substantially to the emerging construct of physical resilience to health stressors. Dr. Whitson currently serves as the Chair of the American Geriatrics Society Research Committee and the Chair of the Advisory Committee to the Center for Vision and Population Health. She is a recipient of the American Geriatrics Society Yoshikawa Award for Outstanding Scientific Achievement in Clinical Investigation.
Areas of Expertise (10)
Population Health
Alzheimers
Ageing
Age-Related Changes in the Eye
Cognitive Health
Sensory Health
Age-Related Changes in the Brain
Vision Health
Dementia
Physical Resilience in Late Life
Accomplishments (5)
Richard Grol Visiting Scientist Award
2018 Radboud Institute for Health Sciences, the Netherlands
Thomas and Catherine Yoshikawa Award for Outstanding Scientific Achievement for Clinical Investigation
2018 American Geriatrics Society
Duke Health Scholars Award
2016 Duke School of Medicine
Outstanding Committee Service Award
2015 Research Committee, American Geriatrics Society
Distinguished Nominee for Research Mentoring Award
2016 Duke School of Medicine
Education (3)
Duke University: M.H.S., Clinical Research Training Program 2009
Cornell University, Weill Medical College: M.D. 2000
Stanford University: B.S. 1996
Affiliations (3)
- “AGING” Initiative on MCC, Member: 2014 to present
- Gerontological Society of America, Member: 2008 to present
- American Geriatrics Society, Member: 2004 to present
Links (1)
Media Appearances (5)
Harvey Cohen Says Yes
Duke University School of Medicine online
2019-06-25
On June 30, 2019, he shed the last of his administrative roles when he turned over the reins of the Duke Center for the Study of Aging and Human Development to Heather Whitson, MD, MHS, associate professor of medicine (Geriatrics) and ophthalmology.
Look after your eyes to protect your brain, new study claims
Deccan Chronicle online
2018-07-06
“This study provides additional evidence that would suggest that people who can keep their vision healthy as they age might also be protecting their cognitive health,” said Dr. Heather E. Whitson of Duke University School of Medicine and Durham VA Medical Center, who wasn’t involved in the research.
Maintaining healthy vision may help keep brain in shape, too
Reuters online
2018-07-04
“This study provides additional evidence that would suggest that people who can keep their vision healthy as they age might also be protecting their cognitive health,” said Dr. Heather E. Whitson of Duke University School of Medicine and Durham VA Medical Center, who wasn’t involved in the research.
Clinical Research Day highlights the role of new technologies in building partnerships
Duke University School of Medicine online
2018-05-28
Following Insel’s talk, four Duke researchers shared examples of their own projects that delve into clinical research, with an overriding theme of technology. Gary Bennett, PhD, the Bishop-MacDermott Family Professor of Psychology and Neuroscience, discussed his work in developing digital obesity treatments. Heather Whitson, MD, MHS, associate professor of medicine (geriatrics) and ophthalmology and deputy director of the Duke Aging Center, discussed the connection between patients with vision and cognition issues in late life, and the importance of developing treatment that recognizes this connection.
Doctor Shortage: Who Will Take Care of the Elderly?
U.S. News & World Report online
2015-04-21
“We are not prepared as a nation. We are facing a crisis,” says Dr. Heather Whitson, associate professor of medicine at the Duke University School of Medicine in Durham, North Carolina. “Our current health care system is ill equipped to provide the optimal care experience for patients with multiple chronic conditions or with functional limitations and disabilities.”
Event Appearances (5)
Geriatrics Visiting Professor and Grand Rounds Speaker
Resilience in the Era of Multiple Chronic Conditions University of California at San Francisco
2020-03-20
Grol Award Lecture
Physical Resilience: The Science of “Bouncing Back” after Health Stressors Radboud University, Nijmegen
2020-02-05
Santa Fe Institute for Complexity Science
Resilience and vulnerability to health stressors Sante Fe, New Mexico
2018-10-11
Radboud Research Round
Physical Resilience across the Lifespan: Tools for Clinicians and Researchers Radboud University, Nijmegen
2018-04-12
Veterans Administration VISN8 GRECC Research Retreat
Frailty and Resiliency Miami, Florida
2018-02-28
Featured Articles (5)
Use of the ICD-10 vision codes to study ocular conditions in Medicare beneficiaries with stroke
BMC Health Services Research
2020 Ocular conditions are common following stroke and frequently occur in combination with pre-existing ophthalmologic disease. The Medicare International Statistical Classification of Diseases and Related Health Problems (ICD-10) coding system for identifying vision related health conditions provides a much higher level of detail for coding these complex scenarios than the previous ICD-9 system.
A protocol to reduce self-reported pain scores and adverse events following lumbar punctures in older adults
Journal of Neurology
2020 Lumbar punctures (LPs) are important for obtaining CSF in neurology studies but are associated with adverse events and feared by many patients. We determined adverse event rates and pain scores in patients prospectively enrolled in two cohort studies who underwent LPs using a standardized protocol and 25 g needle.
Cognitive Impairment among Veterans in Outpatient Vision Rehabilitation
Journal of the American Academy of Optometry
2020 Outpatient vision rehabilitation improves function in veterans with vision impairment, but the prevalence of cognitive impairment and the degree to which it may affect rehabilitation outcomes in the Veterans Affairs system are unknown.
Biomarkers Associated with Physical Resilience After Hip Fracture
The Journals of Gerontology
2020 Clinically similar older adults demonstrate variable responses to health stressors, heterogeneity attributable to differences in physical resilience. However, molecular mechanisms underlying physical resilience are unknown. We previously derived a measure of physical resilience after hip fracture—the expected recovery differential (ERD)—that captures the difference between actual recovery and predicted recovery.
Two Approaches to Classifying and Quantifying Physical Resilience in Longitudinal Data
The Journals of Gerontology
2020 We apply two conceptual approaches to defining physical resilience to existing longitudinal data sets in which outcomes are measured after an acute physical stressor. A “recovery phenotype” approach uses statistical methods to describe how quickly and completely a patient recovers.
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