Parker Health Group
Center for Longevity
Department of Family Medicine and Community Health
Think A Little Differently
We're on a Mission - ROCK ON!
Weʼre on a mission to improve the lives of older adults. We want to help you live longer, more fully, and enjoyably. Every day we consider all aspects of successful aging, including physical health, mental well-being, social connections, and a sense of purpose. Aging is a journey, and we help our patients thrive by delivering care that helps them stay independent, find new hobbies, adapt to changes, and grow continuously. Our mission is ensure continued growth, dignity, and fulfillment for the aged.
Our Leadership
Meet the Parker Health Group Center for Longevity, hosted by the Division of Geriatrics in the Rutgers Robert Wood Johnson Department of Family Medicine & Community Health, and led by a dedicated and distinguished team of leaders, interdisciplinary faculty, fellows, and post-doctoral researchers.
Parker Health Group Center for Longevity Leaders: Elizabeth Luth, PhD, Division Chief; Sara Leonard, MD, Director Service Innovation and Fellowship Director; and June Mooney, Division Administrator.
Faculty: Joshua Raymond, MD, Geriatrician; Fred Kobylarz, MD, Geriatrician; David Howarth, MD, Geriatrician; Alisa Reznikov, MD, Geriatrician; Zeeshan Khan, MD, Geriatrician; Megan Byrne, APN, Clinician Geriatrics; Shafali Kumar, APN, Clinician Geriatrics; Bhoomika Kamath, MD, Family Physician and Palliative Care Specialist; Yvonne Ye, MD, Family Physician; Irina Mindlis, PhD., Instructor.
Fellows and Post Docs: Brianna Gonzalez Morales, MD incoming PGY IV Fellow; and Danielle Llaneza, PhD. Postdoctoral Associate. Our diverse and dedicated team is exceptionally positioned to advance the understanding and practice of optimal aging.
Department of Family Health and Community Medicine Leaders: Alfred E. Tallia MD, Professor and Chair, Rutgers Robert Wood Johnson Medical School; Roberto Muñiz, President and CEO, Parker Health Group and adjunct instructor in the Department of Family Medicine & Community Health and Senior Health Fellow & Instructor at the Edward J. Bloustein School of Public Planning and Public Policy at Rutgers University.
Our Doctors: Everyday Heroes
Physicians for the aging require advanced training to handle modern healthcare complexities. Our training goes beyond basic medical knowledge: We equip our physicians with skills in managing chronic diseases, caring for older adults, treating mental health issues, performing complex procedures, and planning for population health. Our physicians’ learning is at the forefront, ahead in state-of-the-art research and treatment methods. This enhances their ability to provide personal, self-directed care and to address community needs. This advanced training strengthens geriatric skills and care, enabling our physicians to coordinate health and wellness throughout your later years.
The Fellows of Our Fellowship
Becoming a geriatric fellow at the Center for Longevity at Rutgers Robert Wood Johnson Medical School offers an exceptional opportunity for doctors to care for older adults. Our well-regarded program provides a structured curriculum, stable environment, and cutting-edge resources for exciting projects. Youʼll gain diverse clinical experience in inpatient, acute, palliative, and primary care geriatrics. Our didactic curriculum and scholarly opportunities, including a two-year clinical researcher track, will enhance your clinical skills and prepare you as a clinician-scientist. Dedicated faculty mentors you in an interdisciplinary team model, mirroring real-world geriatric practice.
Our Research Is Breaking New Ground
We’re making groundbreaking discoveries in the Department of Family Medicine and Community Health at the Rutgers Robert Wood Johnson Medical School. Our faculty includes PhDs in sociology and clinical psychology who are passionate about aging research. They work closely with other Rutgers researchers from various backgrounds, including the Rutgers Institute for Health, Health Care Policy, and Aging Research (IFH), Rutgers School of Public Health, Rutgers School of Social Work, and Rutgers School of Nursing. Our geriatricians are also actively involved in aging research, including in clinical drug trials to fight Alzheimer’s disease.
We're About Whole Person Care
Weʼve Done This Before
The Department of Family Medicine and Community Health at the Robert Wood Johnson Medical School hosts the Parker Health Group Center for Longevity. Our faculty has extensive expertise in aging, offering direct supervision, mentorship, and teaching, research on patient-centered care, health equity, and barriers to implementing evidence-based interventions for chronic diseases and aging, and clinical care. The faculty’s work is based on the latest best practices and contributes to the advancement of longevity medicine, providing invaluable real-world clinical, research, education, administrative and leadership experience.
We Build Better Doctors
We build compassionate, ethical, and adaptable healthcare professionals who prioritize patient care. We teach them critical thinking, problem-solving, and lifelong learning, fostering evolution, innovation, and integrity in addressing healthcare challenges. We encourage them to collaborate with specialists including Parker Health Group and the VNA, and diverse care experiences. We create well-trained, empathetic advocates who become thoughtful, respected community pillars and contributors to society.
Your Healthcare, Your Choice
We practice self-directed care, giving you power to make informed decisions about your care, choose your doctors, manage budgets, and create personalized care plans. In shifting from a provider-centric model, we focus on individual autonomy, personal responsibility and holistic health needs. Self-directed care is particularly valuable in promoting independence, care effectiveness and patient satisfaction, as well as disability support, post-acute rehabilitation, chronic disease management and long-term care.
The Future Is in Our Hands
Letʼs go beyond nursing homes and hospitals for older adults. We can create personalized approaches that focus on their well-being and independence. These programs bring together experts like nurses, social workers, occupational therapists, and handymen to provide medical, social, and practical support. By focusing on prevention, creating personalized care plans, and addressing social issues, these alternative models reduce hospital stays, improve independence, and overall well-being. Seniors can “age in placeˮ with dignity and comfort.
We've Done Our Homework
Reducing Burden in Families Dealing with Dementia
Research faculty develop and test a simple tool to change how hospice nurses and social workers talk with family caregivers of patients living with dementia about their needs and concerns, help them address their concerns, and reduce caregiver burden.
Improving Clinical Decision-Making
Research faculty collaborate with healthcare provider organizations to improve how data-informed tools are understood and used by physicians, nurses and social workers to connect seriously ill individuals to supportive services like palliative care.
Enhancing Provider Communication with Patients and Families
Research faculty work with health care provider organizations to change how supportive services, such as palliative care, are explained to older adults and their families to increase their knowledge and awareness and connect seriously ill individuals with needed care.
Supporting Families Through Transitions in Care
Research faculty partner with hospice organizations and researchers at other institutions to develop tools to identify hospice patients at risk for poor outcomes and provide them with support after leaving hospice.
Expanding Treatment Options for Alzheimer's Disease
Division geriatricians actively collaborate with researchers at the Rutgers Institute for Health, Health Care, and Aging Research (IFH) to recruit patients for a National Institutes of Health (NIH)-funded clinical trial aimed at evaluating drug tolerability, safety, and efficacy in individuals with early-stage Alzheimer's disease.
Join Our Groundbreaking Team
The Company You'll Keep
The Parker Health Group Geriatrics Fellowship in Family Medicine and Community Health at Rutgers Robert Wood Johnson Medical School, accredited by the ACGME since 1987, train skilled and compassionate geriatricians to care for the aging population. We welcome graduates from Internal Medicine and Family Medicine residencies. Fellowships last 12 months, with a two-year clinical researcher track option. Fellows receive training for American Board of Family Medicine (ABFM) or American Board of Internal Medicine (ABIM) to become effective, efficient and compassionate geriatricians who will pass their CAQ examination in Geriatric Medicine and pursue careers handling the complex medical, functional, and emotional needs of the aging population.
The Benefits You'll Accrue
We offer four Geriatric fellow positions annually; selected fellows will actively work with our multidisciplinary faculty team, including core family medicine and internal medicine faculty in a multitude of service areas including inpatient rotations on the geriatrics consultation service; acute care; and Palliative Care. Outpatient rotations: Subacute Rehab; Long-Term Care; Assisted Living; Adult Daycare; Home-Based Primary Care; Hospice and Palliative Care; Medical Directorship/Leadership. Learner-Centered Curriculum with opportunities including: Varied electives; Research collaboration; Advocacy; Innovation; Leadership; and Additional Outpatient/Inpatient experiences. Geriatric Fellows also have the benefit of the new Parker Health Group Division of Geriatrics as a resource to advance their clinical skills and leadership opportunities in Geriatric Medicine.
Your Core Geriatrician Faculty
Sara Leonard, MD, Program Director, Director of Service Innovation and Fellowship Director, Family Medicine Fellowship Program.
Fred Kobylarz, MD, MPH, Associate Professor, Department of Family Medicine and Community Health; Coordinator, Geriatric Undergraduate curricular development, RWJMS Curriculum Committee
Learn More & Apply
For additional information, please contact:
Department of Family Medicine and
Community Health Geriatrics Fellowship
Matrix Plaza 1
303 George Street, 6th Floor
New Brunswick, NJ 08901
E-mail: fmrwjuh@rwjms.rutgers.edu
Phone: 732-235-7664
With a Little Help from Our Friends
How We’re Funded - Great news for older New Jerseyans
Parker Health Group has made a generous $18.8 million gift to establish a new approach to healthy aging. This donation supports the new Division of Geriatrics and new Center for Longevity housed in the Department of Family Medicine and Community Health at Rutgers Robert Wood Johnson Medical School. Parker’s substantial investment is a clear recognition of the department’s leadership in the aging field and has the potential to significantly advance longevity, clinical care, research, and education for our future. This significant commitment acknowledges the school's excellence and New Jersey’s critical need to serve the aged in new, dynamic ways.
A New Era in Aging Care
America's senior population is set to nearly double by 2050, growing from 46 million to 90 million. This dramatic demographic shift creates an urgent demand for specialized healthcare professionals and services. To meet this critical need, Parker Health Group made an $18.8 million gift to Rutgers Robert Wood Johnson Medical School’s Department of Family Medicine & Community Health. This landmark donation will establish the Parker Health Group Division of Geriatrics and this Parker Health Group Center for Longevity, focused on applied research, education, and interdisciplinary collaboration to enhance care for the aging population of New Jersey and beyond.
Seamless Support for Aging New Jerseyans
Roberto Muñiz, President and CEO of Parker Health Group, a Rutgers alumnus, envisions a "seamless network of high-quality, innovative, and valued geriatric services and supports." The new division and Center, housed within the Department of Family Medicine and Community Health, will connect with various Rutgers programs, including nursing, social work, pharmacy, and psychiatry. This integrated approach aims to support the aging in living their best lives by fostering multidisciplinary research and strong relationships within local communities served by both Parker and Rutgers.
Strengthening the Geriatric Fellowship Program
A key component of this partnership is significant increased funding for the Geriatric Fellowship Program. This 12-month program provides family medicine and internal medicine residency graduates with crucial clinical skills and knowledge for aging care. Fellows also engage in vital research and provide education to local aging service providers, including Parker Health Group. Thanks to Parker Health Group for this generous contribution, which is directly advancing patient care and knowledge within the specialty.
Delivering Long-Term Impact and Community Benefit
This collaboration between Parker Health Group, with its 116 years of excellence in aging services, and Rutgers, with its even longer history as New Jersey’s state university, promises to ensure the aging are well-cared for long into the future. Rutgers' former President Jonathan Holloway praised Parker Health Group's "generous gift" for its benefit to countless families facing the challenges of aging. Dr. Amy P. Murtha, dean of the Rutgers Robert Wood Johnson Medical School, anticipates the program's long-term impact, expecting it to continue for many years. Alfred E. Tallia, MD, Professor and Chair of the Department of Family Medicine and Community Health at Rutgers Robert Wood Johnson Medical School, expects to reinvent the healthcare for the aging population of New Jersey.
We'll Call You Right Back
General Inquiries & Appointments
To speak with your doctor, or schedule an appointment, please click here.
For general questions about the Center for Longevityʼs services, programs and people:
Phone: (732) 235-7676 (Main Line)
Phones are answered Monday - Friday, 9 a.m. - 4:30 p.m. EST.
Email: phg-longevity@rwjms.rutgers.edu
We aim to respond to all email inquiries within 1-2 business days.
Our Fellowship & Educational Programs
For inquiries regarding our Geriatric Medicine Fellowship, student rotations, or educational opportunities, please:
Email: phg-geriatrics@rwjms.rutgers.edu
Phone: (732) 235-7676
Visit our Geriatric Fellowship Page for curriculum and application information
Our Research and Collaborations
For questions about ongoing research, clinical trials, or potential collaborations with the Center for Longevity in the Department of Family Medicine and Community Health at Rutgers Robert Wood Johnson Medical School please:
Email: longevityresearch@rwjms.rutgers.edu
Phone: (732) XXX-XXXX (Research Coordinator)
Learn More: Explore our Research Initiatives Page for current projects
and publications.
Our Location
The Center for Longevity is located in the Department of Family Medicine and Community Health at Rutgers Robert Wood Johnson Medical School.
Center for Longevity
Rutgers Robert Wood Johnson Medical School
Department of Family Medicine and Community Health
Matrix Plaza 1
303 George Street, 6th Floor
New Brunswick, NJ 08901
Feedback
We value your feedback. If you have comments or suggestions about our services or website, please email us at feedback.longevity@rwjms.rutgers.edu.