Jerry Howard Gurwitz

Dr. Jerry Howard Gurwitz is a Professor and holds the Dr. John Meyers Professorship in Primary Care Medicine at UMass Chan Medical School. He maintains multiple academic appointments across the T.H. Chan School of Medicine in the Departments of Medicine (Division of Geriatrics), Family Medicine and Community Health, and Population and Quantitative Health Sciences, as well as in the Morningside Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences in the Departments of Masters in Clinical Investigation and Population Health Sciences.

Dr. Gurwitz received his undergraduate education at Dartmouth College, earning an AB in Biology. He then attended the University of Massachusetts Medical School where he earned his MD.

Dr. Gurwitz's research focuses on geriatric medicine, particularly on medication safety, polypharmacy, and deprescribing in older adults. His work examines prescribing cascades, dementia care, and the management of cardiovascular conditions in elderly patients. He has made significant contributions to understanding medication-related problems in nursing homes and long-term care settings, with a particular emphasis on improving care for patients with multiple chronic conditions. His research often employs large database analyses, randomized clinical trials, and pragmatic trial designs to address critical healthcare delivery questions for vulnerable older populations.

His recent publications demonstrate a strong focus on real-world evidence generation in Alzheimer's disease, deprescribing interventions, polypharmacy implications across different demographic groups, and high-risk medication management in persons with dementia. His work spans clinical trials, observational studies, and systematic reviews, often addressing critical gaps in geriatric pharmacotherapy and care delivery. Notably, he has been instrumental in developing tools like the ThinkCascades instrument for identifying clinically important prescribing cascades affecting older people.

Dr. Gurwitz has been actively involved in mentoring and advising, contributing to numerous collaborative research projects focused on improving medication safety and care for older adults. His work has significant implications for clinical practice guidelines and healthcare policy related to geriatric care. He has led major initiatives including the SAGE-AF study examining treatment strategies for atrial fibrillation in older adults with cognitive impairment, and has contributed significantly to the STRIDE study focused on preventing serious fall injuries in older adults.

Dr. Gurwitz has also been vocal about systemic challenges facing geriatric medicine as a profession, publishing on the "paradoxical decline" of geriatric medicine despite the growing need for specialized geriatric care in our aging population. His leadership in the field is evident through his numerous publications in high-impact journals and his active role in professional organizations dedicated to advancing geriatric care.