Dr. Parag Goyal, a heart failure cardiologist, has received The Paul B. Beeson Emerging Leaders Career Development Award in Aging. This prestigious research award is a 5-year grant in the amount of $1.1 million and will support development and testing of Dr. Goyal’s novel strategy for deprescribing medication in older adults with heart failure.
A growing problem in the United States, the use of multiple medications can be a burden that impacts negatively on the health and wellbeing of older adults. Deprescribing (or medication discontinuation under the supervision of a healthcare professional) is an underutilized approach in patient care but has emerged as a strategy to improve outcomes for older patients who have multiple chronic conditions and a high medication burden. With funding from the Beeson Award, Dr. Goyal will develop and test a pragmatic approach to deprescribing in older adults who have heart failure. His study will address key barriers to deprescribing and focus on increasing patient confidence regarding the decision to continue, or discontinue, a medication.
“Patients with heart failure with preserved ejection fraction (HFpEF) take a high number of medications. Some of these medications have questionable value and may even cause harm,” explains Dr. Goyal. “With this project, we will develop and test a unique patient-centered approach for stopping potentially harmful medications.”
Throughout the study, Dr. Goyal will receive mentorship from Dr. Mark Lachs, co-Chief, Division of Geriatrics and Palliative Medicine, and from Dr. Monika Safford, Chief, Division of General Internal Medicine.
Dr. Goyal is an Assistant Professor of Medicine with joint appointments in the Division of General Internal Medicine and the Division of Cardiology and is the Founding Director of the Weill Cornell Heart Failure with Preserved Ejection Fraction (HFpEF) Program. He is also the Chair of the American College of Cardiology Geriatric Cardiology Section Early Career Professionals Working Group and the Co-Chair of the Reasons for Geographic and Racial Differences in Stroke (REGARDS) Heart Failure Working Group.