Research Seminar with Jiha Lee, MD, MHS
Caring for Complexity: Rheumatoid Arthritis in Older Adults
Open to Penn affiliates
Older adults represent a growing proportion of patients with rheumatoid arthritis, yet most rheumatology guidelines and treatment paradigms are derived from studies of younger, healthier populations. This talk will explore how aging, multimorbidity, and medication burden complicate standard approaches to inflammatory arthritis care. Drawing on population-based research and clinical examples, Dr. Lee will discuss patterns of medication use among older adults, including underuse of disease-modifying therapies and reliance on long-term glucocorticoids. She will introduce age-friendly frameworks, including the 4Ms/5Ms of geriatrics, to illustrate practical strategies for optimizing prescribing, monitoring, and deprescribing in older adults, with an emphasis on aligning treatment with safety, function, and what matters most to patients.
Please note: Registration is required. In-person attendance is strongly encouraged, although virtual access will be provided for all registrants.
Speaker
Jiha Lee, MD, MHS
Assistant Professor, Internal Medicine, University of Michigan
Jiha Lee, MD, MHS, is an Assistant Professor of Internal Medicine at the University of Michigan. Dr. Lee’s research focuses on the evaluation of variations and disparities in the care of patients with rheumatic diseases, and the translation of research knowledge into practice to develop contextual and meaningful interventions that promote high-value care. She is interested in understanding variation in disease-modifying antirheumatic drugs (DMARD) use in older adults with rheumatic diseases in order to optimize the use of these high-risk and high-cost medications.
The Emerging Scholars Exchange Program is a collaborative program with peer universities developed to provide professional development opportunities for early career faculty. Conceived by the Faculty Development Committee at the University of Michigan’s Institute for Healthcare Policy & Innovation (IHPI), the Exchange Program is a collaboration between IHPI, Penn LDI, and UCSF’s Philip R. Lee Institute for Health Policy Studies.