Kenneth Covinsky, MD, MPH, BS

Kenneth Covinsky
Professor
[email protected]
+1 415 221-4810 ext. 24363

Dr. Covinsky is a clinician-researcher in the UCSF Division of Geriatrics. His research seeks to understand the factors that lead to disability in older persons and to improve the quality of life of those with older age disability and their caregivers. He holds the Edmund G. Brown, Sr Distinguished Professorship in Geriatrics and is Principal Investigator of the UCSF Older Americans Independence Center.

Dr. Covinsky was born in Chicago and is a proud Chicago Cubs fan. The 2016 World Series proved all dreams are possible. He completed his undergraduate degree at the University of Illinois, medical school at UCSF, internal medical training at the Johns Hopkins Hospital, a fellowship in General Internal Medicine at the Beth Israel Hospital, and an MPH degree at the Harvard School of Public Health.

Dr. Covinsky was recruited back to UCSF in 1988 to lead the research program of the UCSF Geriatrics Division. His nationally recognized research has transformed our understanding of the determinants and outcomes of disability in older persons. His pioneering descriptions of hospital acquired disability have brought attention to the detrimental impacts of hospitalization on the ability of older persons to function independently. He is a national leader in the science of prognostication in older persons, and his work has proven that patient-centered measures of day-day function are crucial determinant of health outcomes in older persons.

Dr. Covinsky is passionate about mentoring the future leaders of aging research. He has received the UCSF Hal Luft Award for Mentoring in Outcomes and Policy Research and the UCSF Academic Senate Distinction in Mentoring Award. He is proud of his mentees whose creative and innovative research has transformed our understanding of how to improve health care in older persons. His greatest source of pride is that many of his former mentees are now exceptional mentors themselves, also recipients of the local and national mentoring awards, and contribute to a generative culture that makes UCSF the best place to develop a career in aging research.

Dr. Covinsky is Principal Investigator of the UCSF Older Americans Independence Center (OAIC), a National Institute on Aging Funded Pepper Center. The UCSF OAIC supports and mentors UCSF researchers who are passionate about reducing and palliating disability in older persons, particularly those who have medical or socio-economic vulnerabilities. The UCSF Pepper Center provides mentorship to clinical and outcomes researchers across UCSF Departments and Programs and our goal is promote excellence in aging research and care across all medical specialties

Dr. Covinsky attends on the Medical Service and cares for patients in the Geriatrics clinic at the San Francisco VA Medical Center. He is an Associate Editor at JAMA-Internal Medicine and has served as chair of the Clinical Aging Study section at the National Institute on Aging.

Publications

Development of the Lung Transplant Frailty Scale (LT-FS).

The Journal of heart and lung transplantation : the official publication of the International Society for Heart Transplantation

Singer JP, Christie JD, Diamond JM, Anderson MA, Benvenuto LA, Gao Y, Arcasoy SM, Lederer DJ, Calabrese D, Wang P, Hays SR, Kukreja J, Venado A, Kolaitis NA, Leard LE, Shah RJ, Kleinhenz ME, Golden J, Betancourt L, Oyster M, Zaleski D, Adler J, Kalman L, Balar P, Patel S, Medikonda N, Koons B, Tevald M, Covinsky KE, Greenland JR, Katz PK

Reply by Authors.

The Journal of urology

Van Kuiken ME, Zhao S, Covinsky K, Boscardin J, Finlayson E, Suskind AM

Construct and Predictive Validity of Sarcopenia in Lung Transplant Candidates.

Annals of the American Thoracic Society

Maheshwari JA, Kolaitis NA, Anderson MR, Benvenuto L, Gao Y, Katz PP, Greenland J, Wolters PJ, Covinsky K, Hays SR, Kukreja J, Calabrese DR, Venado A, Shah RJ, Leard LE, Trinh B, Huang CY, Glidden D, Kleinhenz ME, Golden JA, Sutter N, Tietje-Ulrich G, Criner RN, Arcasoy SM, Christie JD, Diamond J, Singer JP

Reply by Authors.

The Journal of urology

Suskind AM, Zhao S, Boscardin WJ, Covinsky K, Finlayson E

Frailty trajectories in adult lung transplantation: A cohort study.

The Journal of heart and lung transplantation : the official publication of the International Society for Heart Transplantation

Venado A, McCulloch C, Greenland JR, Katz P, Soong A, Shrestha P, Hays S, Golden J, Shah R, Leard LE, Kleinhenz ME, Kukreja J, Zablotska L, Allen IE, Covinsky K, Blanc P, Singer JP

Frailty phenotypes and mortality after lung transplantation: A prospective cohort study.

American journal of transplantation : official journal of the American Society of Transplantation and the American Society of Transplant Surgeons

Singer JP, Diamond JM, Anderson MR, Katz PP, Covinsky K, Oyster M, Blue T, Soong A, Kalman L, Shrestha P, Arcasoy SM, Greenland JR, Shah L, Kukreja J, Blumenthal NP, Easthausen I, Golden JA, McBurnie A, Cantu E, Sonett J, Hays S, Robbins H, Raza K, Bacchetta M, Shah RJ, D'Ovidio F, Venado A, Christie JD, Lederer DJ

Reply.

Hepatology (Baltimore, Md.)

Lai JC, Covinsky KE, Dodge JL, Boscardin WJ, Segev DL, Roberts JP, Feng S

Physical frailty after liver transplantation.

American journal of transplantation : official journal of the American Society of Transplantation and the American Society of Transplant Surgeons

Lai JC, Segev DL, McCulloch CE, Covinsky KE, Dodge JL, Feng S

Advancing Alzheimer's disease diagnosis, treatment, and care: recommendations from the Ware Invitational Summit.

Alzheimer's & dementia : the journal of the Alzheimer's Association

Naylor MD, Karlawish JH, Arnold SE, Khachaturian AS, Khachaturian ZS, Lee VM, Baumgart M, Banerjee S, Beck C, Blennow K, Brookmeyer R, Brunden KR, Buckwalter KC, Comer M, Covinsky K, Feinberg LF, Frisoni G, Green C, Guimaraes RM, Gwyther LP, Hefti FF, Hutton M, Kawas C, Kent DM, Kuller L, Langa KM, Mahley RW, Maslow K, Masters CL, Meier DE, Neumann PJ, Paul SM, Petersen RC, Sager MA, Sano M, Schenk D, Soares H, Sperling RA, Stahl SM, van Deerlin V, Stern Y, Weir D, Wolk DA, Trojanowski JQ