James M. Lai, MD Joins as New Chief of Division of Geriatrics and Palliative Medicine

After a national search, we are thrilled to announce that James M. Lai, MD, ScM, MHS, has been appointed as the inaugural Chief for our brand new Division of Geriatrics and Palliative Medicine. Dr. Lai has joined us from NYU Langone Health, where he served as Chief of Geriatrics at the Tisch/Kimmel Hospital, Associate Director of Clinical Services for Geriatrics and Palliative Medicine, and Associate Professor of Clinical Medicine at NYU’s Grossman School of Medicine.

During his tenure at NYU, Dr. Lai implemented an embedded geriatric Emergency Department (ED) model at Tisch/Kimmel Hospital and facilitated the expansion of a new Geriatric Trauma consult service at Bellevue Hospital. Under his leadership, he designed and developed a Manhattan-based consultative Geriatrics Clinic that provides critical outpatient Geriatrics support for the ED and inpatient consult teams, while also closely collaborating with the existing NYU Barlow Memory Center. His leadership at NYU Langone Health yielded impressive results, including high patient satisfaction scores, increased consult volumes, and the recruitment of key clinical faculty to meet the rapid growth of the division.

Also active in clinical research, Dr. Lai has most recently studied the role of geriatric care in the ED and AI/data-driven models designed for the early detection of dementia. Dr. Lai continues to collaborate both clinically and academically with research faculty on improving clinical outcomes for older adults admitted through the ED and reducing the harms of hospitalization.

As Chief, Dr. Lai will lead the Division in incorporating geriatric principles throughout the hospital and ambulatory settings, ensuring that Columbia functions as an age-friendly health system. He intends to support our established palliative care service and envisions exploring innovative models of outpatient palliative medicine and consultative geriatric care. He also hopes to explore novel approaches to post-acute care that may facilitate transitions of care for older adults and patients with advanced illness. Furthermore, he plans to establish a robust infrastructure for recruiting and supporting academic faculty within the division to advance the department's research and educational goals.

Thank you to Dr. Shunichi Nakagawa, our Interim Director of Palliative Care services, for his leadership during our national search. Dr Nakagawa is one of our most respected colleagues, and we look forward to working with him and Dr. Lai to fulfill the departmental objectives of providing exceptional clinical care and medical education, while expanding collaboration in academic research in Geriatrics and Palliative Care Medicine.

Please join us in welcoming Dr. Lai to the Department of Medicine!