Author Archives: Coah Staff Admin

We at COAH join the thunderous rounds of applause in celebrating that Dr. Sarah Szanton was named as the new Dean of the Johns Hopkins School of Nursing. She began her term on August 25^th to much fanfare. Indeed, “I’m a Sarah Fan” signs were waving at the State of the School speech she delivered on the first day of her term. And there are many reasons to be a fan of Dean Szanton. She co-developed the CAPABLE program, which helps seniors age in the community; CAPABLE received a lot of attention earlier this year under the new White House administration as a model of how communities nation-wide can better respond to the needs of our older adults, and it has now spread to 44 communities in 23 states!

Throughout her career at the Johns Hopkins School of Nursing and as a Core faculty member of the Center on Aging and Health, Dr. Szanton has been an exemplary mentor, insightful researcher, and a superb gerontologist.  She has a demonstrated commitment to resolving health disparities among minorities, and she treats everyone she encounters with dignity and respect.

We are excited to see Sarah Szanton become Dean of the School of Nursing, and we wish her every success.  Read more about Dean Szanton’s accomplishments throughout her career at the School of Nursing here.

Many congratulations to Dr. Cynthia Boyd, who was named the new Director of the Division of Geriatric Medicine and Gerontology of the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine at the beginning of August.  She previously held the position as Interim Director after Dr. Samuel Durso became the Director of the Department of Medicine at JHBMC in 2020.

In addition to her appointment as Professor of Medicine, Dr. Boyd has joint appointments in Health Policy and Management and in Epidemiology at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health.  Beyond being core faculty at COAH, she is also faculty with the Roger C. Lipitz Center for Integrated Health Care, as well as the Johns Hopkins Center for Transformative Geriatric Research.  She is a Multi-Principal Investigator with the US Deprescribing Research Network.  And she co-directs a T32 grant on Health Services Research Outcomes for Aging Populations.  Additionally, Dr. Boyd is a Center for Innovative Medicine Scholar.  Earlier this year, she was inducted into the American Society for Clinical Investigation.

A former Beeson Scholar and Robert Wood Johnson Physician Faculty Scholar, Dr. Boyd earned her MD from Duke University and her MPH from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.  She completed her residency at Johns Hopkins and performed a fellowship in geriatric medicine and gerontology at Johns Hopkins.

Known for her affable nature, keen research insights, strong commitment to mentorship, and international expertise in the care of persons living with multiple chronic conditions, we at COAH are confident in her leadership, and wish her all the best in her new leadership role.