Mindy J. Fain, MD, named director of the University of Arizona Center on Aging
The College of Medicine – Tucson announces the appointment of Mindy J. Fain, MD, as director of the University of Arizona Center on Aging, a Board of Regents Center of Excellence.
The College of Medicine – Tucson announces the appointment of Mindy J. Fain, MD, as director of the University of Arizona Center on Aging, a Board of Regents Center of Excellence. Dr. Fain has served as the center’s co-director since 2006 and now assumes full leadership at a time of extensive demographic and scientific transformation in aging.
“Aging is a rapidly expanding field with truly limitless opportunities to improve our health span. During my many years of co-leading the U of A Center on Aging with Dr. Janko Nikolich, we created a remarkable infrastructure to advance healthy and functional lives for older adults through comprehensive programs in research, education and training, and clinical care,” Dr. Fain said. “The Arizona Center on Aging will continue to be a catalyst for innovation and collaboration to transform our understanding of resilience and frailty, integrate cutting-edge aging research with high value models of care, accelerate digital and technology-enabled solutions for aging populations, inform aging policy and strengthen workforce development to meet the needs of a rapidly aging world.”
Dr. Fain is division chief of general internal medicine, geriatrics and palliative medicine, professor of medicine and nursing, and holder of The Anne and Alden Hart Endowed Chair in medicine. She is board certified in internal medicine, geriatrics medicine, and hospice and palliative medicine, and completed advanced executive leadership training through the Executive Leadership in Academic Medicine (ELAM) program.
A nationally recognized clinician-scholar, Dr. Fain’s academic work spans more than four decades and reflects sustained impact across clinical innovation, workforce development and geroscience. She has authored and co-authored more than 75 peer-reviewed publications, scholarly book chapters and invited reviews. Her work has advanced understanding of frailty and resilience, trauma outcomes in older adults, cognitive aging, home-based primary care, long COVID in aging populations, and technology-enabled fall detection and mobility assessment. Her publications appear in leading journals, including Journal of the American Geriatrics Society, the American Journal of Medicine and Geroscience, reflecting interdisciplinary collaboration across medicine, public health, engineering and neuroscience.
Dr. Fain has been continuously funded as a principal investigator or co-investigator on federal and foundation grants supporting geriatrics education, workforce development, health system innovation and translational aging research. She currently serves as principal investigator of the HRSA-funded Arizona Geriatrics Workforce Enhancement Program (AZ-GWEP), extending geriatrics training and quality improvement initiatives statewide, including tribal, rural and underserved communities. She is multi-principal investigator of the NIH-funded R25 MSTEM THRIVE program, building the next generation of aging researchers, and leads or collaborates on multiple NIH R01 and R21 studies focused on frailty biology, digital health technologies and aging-related outcomes.
A hallmark of Dr. Fain’s career is her sustained commitment to education and mentorship. She has mentored more than 60 medical students through the NIA/AFAR Medical Student Training in Aging Research (MSTAR) program, in addition to mentoring fellows, junior faculty and career development awardees nationally. She directs the college’s Leadership and Innovation in Health Care Distinction Track, co-teaches the Introduction to Medicine course in the Bachelor of Science in Medicine program and is core faculty in the innovations in aging graduate interdisciplinary programs (GIDP). Her mentorship has been recognized with multiple honors, including the College of Medicine – Tucson Faculty Mentoring Awards in 2020 and 2023.
Her broader honors include election to Alpha Omega Alpha, induction into Phi Beta Kappa and recognition from the Arizona Geriatrics Society as Geriatrician of the Year, receiving the Under Secretary for Health Award for Clinical Programs of Excellence and multiple excellence in teaching awards, and a previous tenure as president of the American Academy of Home Care Medicine.