I am a board-certified geriatric nurse practitioner. As part of my role, I help patients over 75 who have been diagnosed with cancer. I specialize in comprehensive geriatric assessments (CGA) for older patients pursuing cancer treatment. These evaluations act as screening tools that help us understand what types of treatment are most appropriate for the individual patient, based on personal factors. Beyond CGAs, I have expertise in the medical management of people with geriatric syndromes, such as failure to thrive, falls, incontinence, cognitive impairments, dementia, and depression.

I began my career as a geriatric nurse practitioner in a private primary care clinic in New York City in 2005. My career at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center (MSK) began in 2005 as a travel registered nurse (RN), and in 2008, I began working as the first nurse practitioner with the Geriatrics Service. I have worked in both the inpatient (in the hospital) and outpatient (outside of the hospital) settings.

As a member of MSK’s Geriatric Service, I now help co-manage older patients’ medical conditions. When older patients are admitted to the hospital, I work with our team to manage their co-morbid conditions (diseases or illnesses other than cancer). We also determine what the patient’s baseline functional status was prior to admission and determine what interventions will help return the patient back to this baseline as they prepare for discharge.

I have been involved in multiple nursing education initiatives and research projects over the years, including:

• Geriatric Resource Nurse Program
• GERIATRIC PLAN (online nursing resource for help with care of geriatric oncology patients)
• Annual geriatric education programs for RNs and advanced practice providers
• Delirium standard of care and integration of the Confusion Assessment Method (CAM) into daily nursing assessment flowsheets
• Geriatric Delirium Module (online module for new-hire nursing assistants/patient care technicians and RNs at MSK)
• Delirium patient education fact cards
• PODCAST trial (International trial looking at the use of subanesthetic ketamine to prevent post-operative delirium)
• Co-management of patients after bone marrow transplant or chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T cell therapy

Outside of work, I enjoy going to the beach, boating, sailing, traveling, going to concerts, and being a mom of three wonderful children.