Rebecca T. Brown, MD, MPH
Associate Professor of Medicine (Geriatrics)
Senior Fellow, Leonard Davis Institute of Health Economics
Research Associate, Population Aging Research Center
Senior Fellow, Penn Center for Public Health
Vice Chief for Research, Division of Geriatric Medicine
Department: Medicine
Contact information
Ralston House
3615 Chestnut Street
Philadelphia, PA 19104
3615 Chestnut Street
Philadelphia, PA 19104
Office: (215) 573-2021
Education:
AB (English)
Harvard College, Cambridge, MA, 1999.
MD (Medicine)
Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, 2005.
MPH (Clinical Effectiveness)
Harvard School of Public Health, Boston, MA, 2011.
Permanent linkAB (English)
Harvard College, Cambridge, MA, 1999.
MD (Medicine)
Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, 2005.
MPH (Clinical Effectiveness)
Harvard School of Public Health, Boston, MA, 2011.
Description of Clinical Expertise
As a geriatrician, Dr. Brown has expertise practicing in several clinical settings, including inpatient geriatrics consults and Acute Care for Elders units and outpatient primary care geriatrics. She currently practices primary care geriatrics at the Corporal Crescenz VA Medical Center in Philadelphia.Description of Research Expertise
The goal of Dr. Brown's research is to improve functional status and quality of life for socioeconomically vulnerable older adults. A substantial part of Dr. Brown's research has examined the epidemiology and outcomes of functional impairment and other geriatric conditions among vulnerable older populations. Her most recent work builds upon these epidemiologic findings to develop and test interventions to optimize function for vulnerable older adults in both clinic and community settings. She currently holds a K76 Beeson Advanced Career Development Award from the NIA focused on improving function and independence for older adults living in federally subsidized housing, as well as a VA Quality Enhancement Research Initiative (QUERI) grant focused on improving identification and management of functional impairment among older adults in primary care settings.Selected Publications
Hadjis AD, Sun H, Du Y, Brown RT, Munshi P, Gill S, Hossain N, Skuli S, Frey N, Hexner EO, Bruno XJ, Lai CE, Martin M, Luger SM, Porter DL, Loren AW, McCurdy SR : Graft-Versus-Host Disease and Senescence-Associated Biomarkers Correlate with Frailty and Survival in Older Adults Undergoing Hematopoietic Cell Transplantation. Oral presentation at Tandem Meetings of American Society for Transplantation and Cellular Therapy and Center for International Blood and Marrow Transplant Research; Honolulu, Hawaii Feb 2025.McCurdy SR, Sung A, Brown RT, Bruno X, Hong S, Babushock D, Munshi P, Johnson E, Frey N, Kessler M, Lai C, Lew M, Martin ME, Hexner E, Alfred Fisher, Luger S, Koll T, Skuli S, Bohannon L, Gill S, Porter D, Hossain N, Chao N, Loren A, Bhatt V, Gimotty PA: Machine Learning Models Demonstrate Gait Speed as Best Predictor of Survival and Relapse-Free survival in Older Adults Undergoing Allogeneic Hematopoietic Cell Transplant (HCT). Poster presentation at Tandem Meetings of American Society for Transplantation and Cellular Therapy and Center for International Blood and Marrow Transplant Research; Honolulu, Hawaii Feb 2025.
Nicosia FM, Zamora K, Ashcraft LE, Krautner G, Groot M, Kinosian B, Schubert CC, Chhatre S, Moriarty H, Intrator O, Schwartz AW, Orkaby AR, Prigge J, Brown RT: Type II hybrid effectiveness-implementation study of routine functional status screening in VA primary care. Implement Sci Commun 2025 Notes: Accepted for publication.
Warren CM, Ashcraft LE, Peeples A, Piazza KM, Goodman O, Gitlin LN, Long JA, Burke RE, Werner RM, Brown RT: Challenges and opportunities in implementing a multicomponent dementia caregiver program in a complex healthcare system. Inquiry 2025 Notes: Accepted for publication.
Andy UU, Newman DK, Wyman JF, Klusaritz H, Walsh W, Shou H, Koepler N, Schmitz KH, Reaves S, Arya L, Brown RT: The Mobility and Voiding Exercises in Older Women with Urinary Incontinence (MoVEonUp) randomized controlled trial: study protocol and rationale. BMC Geriatr 24(1): 994, Dec 4 2024.
Stites SD, Lee BN, Largent EA, Harkins K, Sankar P, Krieger A, Brown RT: Double-edged sword: a positive brain scan result heightens confidence in an Alzheimer’s diagnosis but also leads to higher stigma among older adults in a vignette-based experiment J Gerontol B Psychol Sci Soc Sci 79(8): gbae109, Aug 2024.
Kler S, Diaz-Ramirez LG, Ryskina KL, Jeon S, Patel K, Cudjoe TKM, Ritchie CS, Boscardin WJ, Brown RT: Geriatric conditions and health care utilization among older adults living in subsidized housing J Amer Geriatr Soc 72(8): 2446-2459, Aug 2024 Notes:
Jain S, Rosenbaum PR, Reiter JG, Ramadan OI, Hill AS, Hashemi S, Brown RT, Kelz RR, Fleisher LA, Silber JH : Mortality among older medical patients at flagship hospitals and their affiliates. J Gen Intern Med 39(6): 902-911, May 2024.
Brown RT, Lu, Q, Xie D, Guevara T, Kalman J, Reyes-Farias D, Resnick B, Reid C, Mechanic-Hamilton D, Rascovsky K, Stites S, Long J: Improving functional status among older adults living in subsidized housing: a pilot study Paper presentation, Disparities: Can We Do Better? Paper Session, American Geriatric Society Annual Scientific Meeting; virtual May 9 2024.
Brown RT, Zamora K, Rizzo A, Spar M, Fung K, Santiago L, Nicosia FM: Improving measurement of functional status among older veterans in primary care: a pilot study. Poster presentation at American Geriatric Society Annual Scientific Meeting; virtual May 9 2024.