UCSF and the Jewish Home partner for research A world of interests ...

Research Center’s Examination Wing
intake / measurements
reception / waiting
meds
dirty utility
Offices
Partners in Rese arch
STAFF
A dedicated space for an expanded research center
was included in the Home’s new Barbara & Richard
Rosenberg Family Center. Jewish Home & Senior Living
Foundation (which assists the Jewish Home in fulfilling
its mission primarily by making grants to the Home) has
launched a $5 million campaign to develop offices and
laboratories for the research team, and to help endow
a professorship to explore new and improved therapies
for aging adults. The Dr. Harris M. Fishbon Fund of the
Mount Zion Health Fund has joined the Jewish Home
in this effort with an initial gift to partially endow the
UCSF Harris M. Fishbon Distinguished Professorship for
Clinical Translational Research in Aging, to be based at
the Jewish Home.
Herbst Foundation
Examination rooms
The Herbst Foundation, Inc. has pledged a generous gift for the
Jewish Home’s new research center. This is the second grant
the Foundation has made to the Home. The Foundation, which
focuses on new construction, or bricks and mortar, funded
the Home’s new fitness center. The Herbst name can be seen
throughout the Bay Area, most notably in the Herbst Pavilion
at Fort Mason Center and the Herbst Theatre, located in San
Francisco’s War Memorial Veterans Building.
CLEAN UTILITY PANTRY
EQUIPMENT STORAGE
research staff area
Office of Clinical
Research
A rendering of how the examination wing of the planned expanded research center at the Jewish Home may look.
“Our needs can be defined by the four P’s,” says Dr.
Schwartz, director of the Home’s Research department.
“Place, that is, a physical space to do the work, the
completed research center; People, endowed positions
for researchers, including visiting scholars and graduate
students in geriatric medicine; Programs, support for
the science of the research center; and Partners, our
academic partners in research, primarily UCSF.”
The need for research to develop new therapies
for disorders of aging, diseases of the elderly, and
prevention of age-associated diseases is even more
relevant today. Statistics show that people are living
longer; in 30 years, researchers believe there will be as
many people older than 80 as there are under 5 years
old. Geriatric care has changed; it now focuses on
quality of life – helping individuals retain their physical
and mental capacities so that they can engage in
activities as long as possible. This is reflected in the care
and activities provided at the Jewish Home.
“We have very little definitive information on how to
best manage health-related disorders in the very oldest
age groups,” says Dr. Schwartz. “This is because they’ve
been excluded from clinical trials that test the safety
and efficacy of treatments and medications. Also, in
general, therapies were directed toward extending life
but not necessarily toward enhancing its quality.”
Dr. Schwartz’s studies at the Jewish Home have
shown that this age group is different from the general
population in terms of their reaction to medication
therapies, and should be dealt with as a separate and
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Jewish Senior Living 2009/ 2010