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Thomas M. Gill, MD

Humana Foundation Professor of Medicine (Geriatrics) and Professor of Epidemiology (Chronic Diseases) and of Investigative Medicine
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Additional Titles

Director, Yale Program on Aging

Director, Claude D. Pepper Older Americans Independence Center

Director, Yale Center for Disability and Disabling Disorders

Director, Yale Training Program in Geriatric Clinical Epidemiology and Aging-Related Research

Contact Info

Dorothy Adler Geriatric Assessment Center

874 Howard Avenue

New Haven, CT 06519

United States

About

Titles

Humana Foundation Professor of Medicine (Geriatrics) and Professor of Epidemiology (Chronic Diseases) and of Investigative Medicine

Director, Yale Program on Aging; Director, Claude D. Pepper Older Americans Independence Center; Director, Yale Center for Disability and Disabling Disorders; Director, Yale Training Program in Geriatric Clinical Epidemiology and Aging-Related Research

Biography

Dr. Thomas Gill is Professor of Medicine, Epidemiology, and Investigative Medicine and the Humana Foundation Professor of Geriatric Medicine at Yale University. He received his research training in clinical epidemiology as a Robert Wood Johnson (RWJ) Clinical Scholar at Yale, and he joined the faculty in 1994 after completing an additional year as a geriatrics fellow. Dr. Gill is a leading authority on the epidemiology and prevention of disability among older persons and is the recipient of numerous awards, including the Paul Beeson Physician Faculty Scholars in Aging Research Award, the RWJ Generalist Physician Faculty Scholar Award, the 2001 Outstanding Scientific Achievement for Clinical Investigation Award from the American Geriatrics Society, the Ewald W. Busse Research Award in the Biomedical Sciences, the 2012 Joseph T. Freeman Award from the Gerontological Society of America, and the 2022 Irving Wright Award of Distinction from the American Federation for Aging Research. Dr. Gill holds several leadership positions at Yale, including Director of the Program on Aging and Claude D. Pepper Older Americans Independence Center, Director of the Center on Disability and Disabling Disorders, and Director of an NIA-funded postdoctoral training program in Geriatric Clinical Epidemiology and Aging-Related Research. His research accomplishments have been recognized through receipt of a MERIT Award from the National Institutes of Health and election to the American Society of Clinical Investigation and Association of American Physicians.

Appointments

Education & Training

Fellow
Yale University School of Medicine (1994)
Fellow
Yale University School of Medicine (1993)
Resident
University of Washington (1990)
MD
University of Chicago (1987)
BA
Loyola University (1985)
BS
Loyola University (1983)

Research

Overview

Dr. Gill's research is directed towards understanding the mechanisms underlying the development of functional decline and disability among community-living older persons and towards developing preventive strategies to forestall the onset and progression of disability among those who are most vulnerable. The results from the Yale Precipitating Events Project (PEP), Dr. Gill's ongoing NIA-funded cohort study, which includes monthly assessments of functional status for over 25 years, are revolutionizing our understanding of disability, a problem of immense importance to older persons,their families, and society. In a landmark clinical trial, Dr. Gill's research group demonstrated that functional decline among frail older persons can be prevented through a prehabilitation program targeting underlying impairments in physical capabilities. He has led and/or played major roles on many multi-site clinical trials, including an ongoing multi-site pragmatic trial that is comparing clinical outcomes and health care utilization of a health system-based dementia care program, a community-based dementia care program, and usual care. He has recently established a working group in the medical school on translational geroscience, which includes an annual pilot grant program and visiting professorship.

Dr. Gill directs the Center on Disability and Disabling Disorders, which conducts longitudinal studies and clinical trials to enhance the scientific knowledge base of the disablement process and to rigorously evaluate promising intervention strategies. The Center includes an expanding number of clinical investigators, across disciplines, who are pursuing aging research related to disability and disabling disorders. This includes functional assessment in general as well as the functional consequences of highly prevalent disease-specific conditions such as arthritis, heart failure, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), influenza, diabetes, stroke, depression, dementia, sleep deficiency, critical illness and major surgery. Under Dr. Gill's direction, the Center has acquired significant expertise with the National Health and Aging Trends Study (NHATS), an ongoing, nationally representative longitudinal study of 7,600+ community-living persons aged 65 years or older, which is serving as a primary data source for several projects related to the epidemiology of disability, including a recently funded R01 from the National Institute of Minority Health and Health Disparities: "A Multifactorial Approach to Evaluating Disparities in Outcomes after Major Surgery in Disadvantaged Older Persons".


1. Yale PEP Study: Epidemiology of Disability and Recovery in Older Persons

2. NHATS: A Multifactorial Approach to Evaluating Disparities in Outcomes after Major Surgery in Disadvantaged Older Persons

3. Yale PEP Study: Distressing Symptoms and Disability Before and After Sentinel Health Events among Community-living Older Persons

Medical Subject Headings (MeSH)

Aging; Clinical Trial; Disability Evaluation; Epidemiology; General Surgery; Geriatric Assessment; Geriatrics; Geroscience; Health Status Disparities

Research at a Glance

Yale Co-Authors

Frequent collaborators of Thomas M. Gill's published research.

Publications

2024

Clinical Trials

Current Trials

Academic Achievements & Community Involvement

  • activity

    Beeson Career Development Award Program

  • activity

    Yale University

  • activity

    Yale School of Medicine

  • activity

    Journal of Gerontology: Medical Sciences

  • activity

    Journal of the American Geriatrics Society

Clinical Care

Overview

Thomas M. Gill, MD, is the director of the Yale Program on Aging, Claude D. Pepper Older Americans Independence Center, and Yale Center for Disability and Disabling Disorders. His clinical practice specializes in Alzheimer’s disease, other types of dementia and old-age frailty. He says a “commitment to serving vulnerable populations, including older people,” led him into the field of geriatrics.

A leading authority on the epidemiology and prevention of disability among older persons, Dr. Gill says trends are strongly in favor of people leading full lives as they age. “Because of advancements in the field, each generation of older persons has led healthier and more productive lives relative to the prior generation,” he says.

His own research has shown that preventive rehabilitation of minor physical infirmities keeps older persons from developing serious disabilities. That is just one strategy he and his fellow physicians at Yale Medicine use to keep older people healthy and active. “We implement a case management model, in which the physician works in partnership with a team of outstanding case managers,” he says. “We will carefully listen to their concerns and make recommendations based on their preferences and goals of care.” Dr. Gill is a professor of medicine (geriatrics), of epidemiology (chronic diseases) and of investigative medicine at Yale School of Medicine.

Clinical Specialties

Geriatrics

Get In Touch

Contacts

Academic Office Number
Office Fax Number
Mailing Address

Dorothy Adler Geriatric Assessment Center

874 Howard Avenue

New Haven, CT 06519

United States

Administrative Support

Locations

  • E.S. Harkness Memorial Hall, Building A

    Academic Office

    367 Cedar Street, Ste Rm 317a

    New Haven, CT 06510