Mayo Clinic Forms Division of Geriatric Medicine and Gerontology

The Mayo Clinic has recently formed a new division dedicated to the promotion of health and independence for older adults through clinical care and translational research: the Division of Geriatric Medicine and Gerontology.

Robert Pignolo, MD, PhD, formerly of the University of Pennsylvania, has been appointed as the division chair and also will serve as director of the Translation and Pharmacology Program within the Robert and Arlene Kogod Center on Aging.

Prior to the Mayo Clinic, Dr Pignolo served as an associate professor of medicine in the Division of Geriatric Medicine at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania and the Penn Presbyterian Medical Center, Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania; an associate professor of Orthopedic Surgery; and as the director of Ralston-Penn Clinic for Osteoporosis and Related Bone Disorders.

The new division, which has over 50 geriatricians, is projected to “strengthen collaboration among investigators and clinicians, and will support additional research endeavors and the training of future generations of geriatricians and gerontologists,” according to a press release.

The press release also expressed the commitment of the Mayo Clinic to serve the aging population and mentioned its ranking as first in geriatrics by the US News and World Report. Geriatricians on Mayo Clinic’s Rochester campus will be brought together initially through joint appointments within the division.—Amanda Del Signore