Heffner Tideswell Scholar | University of Rochester School of Nursing

Kathi Heffner, PhD, associate professor in the University of Rochester School of Nursing and the Department of Psychiatry, was among a select group of scholars chosen to participate in a yearlong national geriatric leadership development program.

The Emerging Leaders in Aging Program, sponsored by the Tideswell at UC San Francisco, The American Geriatrics Society, and the Association of Directors of Geriatric Academic Programs, is a hands-on, practical program aimed at augmenting and leveraging existing leadership skills to advance clinical, research, policy, and educational initiatives in aging. It complements the existing efforts of other leadership programs in aging by focusing on and enhancing leadership skills in promising leaders. Utilizing principles emanating from the “start-up” culture in technology and innovation, the program builds on pressing challenges that new leaders are experiencing and helps them to develop strategies to address and sustain positive change.

Heffner was one of only five scholars accepted into the 2017-18 research cohort. Her project is related to her recent CTSI Incubator Award aimed at developing infrastructure for what she and her collaborators have named the Health Aging Research Program, or HARP.

“I’m honored to be selected to participate in this prestigious program,” said Heffner. “I’m grateful for the support of my mentors and colleagues at the University of Rochester, who helped to make this appointment possible, and I look forward to learning and collaborating with the talented scholars in our group.”

Scholars participate in the program for one year, beginning with a two-day workshop in San Francisco in late November, followed by individual and small-group coaching and mentoring sessions throughout the year. The program culminates at the two-day American Geriatric Society Annual Meeting in Orlando in late April 2018.